From Availability to Accessibility: Hyper-Local Public-Private Partnerships

In 2016, Libraries Without Borders established the Wash and Learn Initiative (WALI) to expand the access and accessibility of information to families waiting for their clothes to wash and dry in laundromats. This article discusses the private-public partnerships between small, mom-and-pop laundromat businesses and library branches that have made this work possible. For our laundromat partners, we have heard that WALI libraries provide them with a direct means to give back to their communities. It also helps that librarians have been able to help laundromat staff keep the kids from running around and jumping into laundry carts! Some laundromat owners have also told us that WALI has increased the number of returning clients. In 2006, the Coin Laundry Association created a 501c3 called the LaundryCares Foundation. At first, the LaundryCares Foundation focused on expanding access to high-quality laundry services to families in low-income communities and in post-disaster contexts. It is with Libraries Without Borders and Too Small to Fail that the Coin Laundry Association has come to understand the unique opportunity we have to also provide critical educational services inside laundromats.

[Allister Chang is Executive Director of Libraries Without Borders. Brian Wallace is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Coin Laundry Association.]