CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s a partnership that’s built on the love of literature. Kat Varner and Jesse Brown have taken their bond and love for books on the road. Literally.
“We usually call it the Jesse / Kat road show or the Kat / Jesse road show depending on who’s telling you the story,” Varner said as she cracked a smile.
Varner was a mentor for Brown during a tough period in his life.
“She means a lot. She’s gotten me through a lot in my life. She was my mentor in high school. I was going down a path I shouldn’t have been going down. I reached out for help, and she pulled me out of the ashes,” he shared.
He thinks books can be that difference for someone else.
“For me, growing up I didn’t have someone giving me books like that and so I had that void," he said. "I probably wouldn’t have been in the situations that I had gotten myself into when I was older.”
In 2023, they started a nonprofit called Books on the House. It’s a free, mobile bookstore for all ages.
“One of the things we like to do is make sure there is free book access and also sustainability. We call it activated sustainability. It’s a recycling of books,” Varner explained.
She said with the help of friends, neighbors and community members, they can collect books and give the books out.
“A lot of the people that we serve don’t have that opportunity or that access to be able to have books,” Brown explained.
The mobile library makes stops throughout the Charlotte area. Which included a recent stop at Roof Above in Uptown.
“It doesn’t surprise me that people are running toward it. We all like great stories, right? And I think that it’s no different for people experiencing homelessness,” Randall Hitt, the vice president of Unsheltered Services at Roof Above, said. “All of sudden we are talking about books, but I think what that shows you is we got more in common that we do have dissimilarities."
Brown and Varner said they are leading with love while also helping to build access.
“Someone who needs a book or wants a book gets a book. We’re putting out about 1,500 to 2,000 books on the bookmobile at any given time,” Varner said.
Right now, Books on the House is gearing up for Charlotte's Bookpalooza on Oct. 12.
Contact Nick Sturdivant at nsturdiva1@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.