Along a gritty stretch of South Orange Avenue in Newark, locals recently packed a laundromat – not for the hum of the spin cycles, but for readings by debut authors just old enough to tackle chapter books. 

This is no ordinary wash house. Its walls are covered in bright collegiate pennants, mapping dreams from Spelman to Stanford, all curated by owners Annie Godfrey and her husband Darryl, to help local kids “think beyond where they are,” as she put it. 

That’s also the goal of Bedtime Stories, a program they hosted on a recent Sunday. It’s a group for young readers, many of them students in the city’s South Ward, who meet regularly to share aloud and discuss books. The initiative was founded by former teacher and local fixture Sami Armstrong, with financial backing from the Godfreys.

For a year and a half, kids have logged onto virtual reading sessions three nights a week, drawing up to a dozen participants per call. They also take it offline — gathering at spots from a roller rink to this Smart Sudz in the West Ward, and going on larger adventures including a 40-person bus trip to Washington, D.C.  

Together, they have shared more than 600 books, Armstrong says.