The man, named Courtney Holmes, came up with the idea specifically for his town’s Back to School Bash earlier this week. Barber Courtney Holmes devoted a day to providing kids haircuts under one condition: They must read to him while he snips. “They’re paying through reading”. he said in an interview.

Even children understand quality haircare is provided at a premium, so if boys and girls can trade skills for trims, they’ll take those deals.

St. Mark Youth Enrichment, a 25-year-old organization dedicated to homework help, literacy, and creativity, donated some of the books during the event.

Caitlin Daniels, a reading coordinator with the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, said the haircuts were a big hit among the families. All the kids, they want to have a good haircut to go back to school. Some children breezed through their book and reached for another, while others stumbled on words.

Already, people have sent books to the salon to support the program, and Holmes hopes to develop it into a monthly event, telling the news outlet, “I’m going to keep this going”.

Last year, barber Reggie Ross took the TV and Internet out of his Royal Touch Barbershop in West Palm Beach, Fla., and replaced them with books. Ross saw an urgent need to promote educational efforts, as the city has a mere 50 percent graduation rate for Black male teens.