- The Library Dads, founded by Atlanta father Khari Arnold, is a group of fathers who meet for “Library Link-Ups” with their children to bond over books and build community.
- The gatherings combine story time, one-on-one reading, and what the group calls “tickle time,” with the goal of building both literacy and a brotherhood among the dads.
- More than half of U.S. adults read below a sixth-grade level, and Georgia lawmakers recently passed the Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026 to fund literacy coaches and tighten dyslexia screening in elementary schools.
A growing group of Atlanta fathers is meeting up at the local library every week, kids in tow, to read books, share story time, and quietly take on the U.S. literacy crisis – one tickle-time chapter break at a time.
The group is called the Library Dads, and it started with one father and his infant daughter. Khari Arnold had been taking his daughter Araya to the library to give her a quiet, regular place with him. After a year of doing it, he posted a short Instagram reel of one of their visits – and other Atlanta dads started turning up with their own kids.
“After doing it for a year, I decided it would make sense to get other dads involved in learning how to bond through books, through going to the library, and we from there built a brotherhood,” Arnold said.
The gatherings, known as “Library Link-Ups,” run on a simple rhythm. Story time first, then one-on-one reading sessions where each dad is paired with his own child and a book. Laughter is built in – the group has a name for the breaks between chapters: tickle time.
For the fathers, the appeal goes beyond the page.
“One of our favorite sayings is, ‘It’s one thing to have men in your circle; it’s another thing to have men in your corner,'” Arnold said.
Cassell Scott recently came along with his 3-year-old daughter, Amale. He had been to plenty of dad-and-daughter outings before. This one landed differently.
“I think it was eye opening to see other dads like myself who are engaged, actually motivating as well,” Scott said.
The literacy stakes are real. More than half of adults in the United States read below a sixth-grade level. Research from Ohio State University has found that children who are read just one book a day hear roughly 300,000 more words by age 5 than children who are not regularly read to by a parent.
Arnold has watched the math play out at home. By 18 months, Araya had a working vocabulary of around 250 words.
“We want to bond through books and build a brotherhood,” he said. “One of the things we want to do here is reduce that feeling of isolation and also reverse the literacy crisis.”
The cause is gaining political backing too. Georgia lawmakers recently passed the Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026, which will fund literacy coaches in elementary schools and strengthen dyslexia screening requirements.
The work the Library Dads are doing, though, is smaller and older than any policy: a father, a child, a book, and the time to sit together. The brotherhood is what comes after.
