All Voices Reading Room: Promoting DEI in Winchester

Imagine it’s a warm, sun­ny day and you are try­ing to find some­thing to do dur­ing the sum­mer, but you can’t seem to find any­thing to cure your bore­dom. For many peo­ple, the solu­tion would be to sit back, relax, and read a nice book. The All Voices Reading Room in Winchester has many to choose from.

All Voices Reading Room is a local­ly owned, non-prof­it library start­ed in 2024. The library holds a col­lec­tion of books focused on inclu­siv­i­ty and equal­i­ty. Lisa Bush, the library’s founder and direc­tor, said the library helps bring peo­ple together. 

“Our goal is to pro­mote diver­si­ty, inclu­sion, and equal­i­ty,” Bush said. “We just need more kind­ness and compassion.”

The library is cur­rent­ly in the process of find­ing a per­ma­nent build­ing, but until then, they are hold­ing ven­dor pop-ups at The Hall every two weeks for easy access. 

“You show up, sign the book out, give your phone num­ber, and we text you when we are hav­ing a pop-up and where we will be,” Bush said. “You gen­er­al­ly keep the book for about a month, but you can renew them as well.”

The library’s col­lec­tion of books is noth­ing short of amaz­ing. They have children’s books that pro­mote kind­ness, mem­oirs, and gen­er­al and non-fic­tion books. All Voices Reading Room host­ed a black his­to­ry month event as well, at which they brought their selec­tion of African-American and Black History books. 

“We have a bunch of kids’ books, young adult books, and adult books,” Board President Kim Grissam said. “This list is con­stant­ly grow­ing from dona­tions from the community.”

Non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tions are very reliant on com­mu­ni­ty sup­port. Many peo­ple in the com­mu­ni­ty have helped to pro­mote the library and lead it to where it is now. 

“I real­ly can­not stress enough how much the com­mu­ni­ty has come togeth­er to help us,” Bush said. “I was able to find peo­ple who are just as pas­sion­ate as me and they all bring about their own spe­cial tal­ents and con­nec­tions. That’s been a huge help.”

The library has allowed for many con­nec­tions to be made through­out the community.

“The biggest ben­e­fit of the library is the knowl­edge and friend­ships you obtain by vis­it­ing and get­ting involved,” Grissam said. 

The best way to get involved with All Voices Reading Room is to help pro­mote the library. They encour­age you to fol­low their social media to keep up with their pop-up events. 

“We hope to accom­plish becom­ing that safe space for the com­mu­ni­ty,” Grissam said. “Check out books, have good con­ver­sa­tions, and devel­op friendships.”