MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Shelby County School principal is using social media to inspire kids to read, and he doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon.
“Everyone is getting on board with this idea and concept,” Bruce Elementary Principal Archie Moss Jr. said. The principal’s bed time stories have taken on a life of their own.
Since March 2019, he has been reading bed time stories to students every night via Facebook Live. “This small idea has manifested into something I did not even think it would become,” he said. Now, authors are giving him books to read to students. “I had some authors who were just like, ‘Hey. I love what you’re doing. If I send you a book, would you read it on Facebook Live?”
Moss isn’t just reading books written by local authors. He’s getting attention from the United Kingdom and Canada.
“I think that is the biggest thing. Reading is freedom, and I want them to feel like they can be free every time they hear each story,” he said. The initiative has even helped him strike a deal with scholastic, a publishing company that specializes in children’s books. And Hurston Media Group has also decided to send copies of the very first book Moss featured during his bedtime stories.
The collection has grown so quickly now that Moss is allowing students to pick the bed time story they’d like to hear for the week. He also has a new challenge that he’s pushing, “Different community leaders, different commissioners, any board members who are interested in guest reading on Facebook Live.”
Principal Moss plans to keep the bed time stores going even in the summer. Then he plans on reading twice a week instead of just on Tuesday nights.
