The scene plays and replays across South Carolina. Garnet and black loving fans bouncing on their feet, cheering with unbridled delight. Other fans, notably subdued, sport orange and purple to claim even the smallest ground inside the rolling wave of University of South Carolina spirit.

What’s all the excitement about? “Reading!” says Margaret Cook, USC instructor and coordinator of Cocky’s Reading Express.

Cocky’s Reading Express is a University of South Carolina literacy outreach initiative that launched in 2005. The program, made possible by a team of USC students and the school’s beloved mascot Cocky, visits Title I elementary schools across South Carolina, hosting high energy story times for 4-K through second grade students. It’s an outreach effort designed to ignite a lifelong love of reading and the many benefits that stem from it.

“When they see Cocky, sometimes the kids just lose their minds,” says Margaret with a laugh. “The loyalties of some clearly lie elsewhere while other kids don’t even know who Cocky is. For them it’s just fun.”

Schools aren’t chosen at random. They’re located in places where reading materials are difficult to come by. As part of a visit, students are given a free book for keeps. The books the program provides are a mix of fiction, nonfiction, and high-interest titles chosen to reflect the population they serve. According to Margaret, allowing children to self-select is essential. “They can choose a book that resonates with them,” she says.

While many South Carolina families have access to shelves of age-appropriate books at home as well as to school and community libraries, lots of children across the state have none. Many low income families do not have books for their children. That’s one reason an estimated one-third of children in the state do not have the literacy skills to succeed in kindergarten, according to My First Books SC, a statewide partnership led by the Palmetto Project and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Cocky’s Reading Express, which visits about 20 schools per year, has given out 152,335 books since it was founded and is on track to give away around 8,600 free books during the 2023 to 2024 school year. The program is expanding its footprint with a new Adopt-a-School effort that launched in 2023. Through the Adopt-a-School program, Cocky’s Reading Express connects businesses, student organizations, and com-munity members with Title I Schools within book deserts for a year of literacy service, including the maintenance of a Little Free Library inside the school library.

The benefits of Cocky’s Reading Express are clear for younger students and underserved schools.

Another far less obvious beneficiary is the college students who participate in the program. Margaret says one of her favorite moments in a school visit

has nothing to do with Cocky. It’s when the 18- to 22-year-old college students introduce them-selves to the children, sharing their major and what they hope to be when they grow up. “Not only do the kids cheer them on and build them up, but the kids can see where they could go and what they could be through our students,” she says.

Before Cocky hops back on the bus for the ride back to campus, a school visit concludes with two important moments. First, students pledge to Cocky that they will read 15 minutes every day, a practice many continue as confirmed by the program’s post visit follow-ups. Secondly, classes take photos featuring Cocky to commemorate the special day.

The impact of a program like Cocky’s Reading Express can’t be fully captured in data and reading stats. “It’s amazing when you see how quickly a child can connect with an 18-year-old and the impact that experience can have,” says Margaret.