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Bahir Hayes, principal of William C. Bryant School, says he learned to love reading in the fifth grade.
That year, he remembers being fixated on a school library book about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that he wanted more than anything in the world. His mom preferred that he read Harry Potter instead, and he obliged.
“I was so mad, but it was actually one of the best things that ever happened to me, because that’s where I found my love of reading,” Hayes said.
The effect was immediate. Hayes said that year was a “turning point” in his education. He started spending more time in the school library and saw his reading scores start to soar. He was accepted into a prestigious high school in the city, attended Bloomsburg University, and eventually became principal at Bryant.
From day one as a school leader, Hayes said he’s been focused on one goal: Opening a library so his students could fall in love with books the way he did.
On Wednesday, Hayes finally cut the ribbon on that achievement.
“This was a big dream of mine,” Hayes said. “Opportunities like this can change a child’s complete experience, and actually can change their life. I’m living proof of that.”
Few schools in Philadelphia have libraries within their buildings and only one — Masterman, the city’s most coveted high school — has a full-time librarian on staff. Getting Bryant’s library set up required nearly a year of work with help from several outside partners, including the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (known as WePAC), Teach for America, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Libraries.
Over the past 10 months, community partners cataloged 5,000 books and cleaned up the dusty top floor of the school that had been mostly used for storage. The new library space has a colorful area rug for group reading, tables for studying, and the sun streams in from the multiple skylights in the ceiling.
Staffing the library will also be a team effort. The school is looking for parent and community volunteers to sign up for library shifts with the goal of increasing parent engagement with the school. Students on Wednesday each received a blue drawstring bag full of books to start their own libraries at home.
Jennifer Leith, executive director of WePAC, said Bryant students have made strong progress in boosting their reading scores over the past few years. She said having a school library will help improve kids’ reading comprehension further.
According to district data, the percentage of Bryant students who scored proficient or advanced on the state PSSA English Language Arts exam increased from 14% in 2021-22 to 24% in 2023-24, the most recent year data was available.
Beyond the benefits of reading books, Leith said the act of selecting what to read helps students learn about themselves, their interests, and the worlds around them and within their imagination.
“Choosing a book can be the one choice students get to make in their school day that’s their own,” Leith said. “It gives them agency.”
Or in Hayes’ case, the book that doesn’t get chosen can be the one to inspire a lifelong love of reading.
Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.
