Affinia Healthcare and C.A.R.E have joined forces to launch Little Free Libraries in four communities, providing access to books for all ages. This collaboration promotes literacy and education in underserved areas.

Affinia Healthcare President & CEO Dr. Kendra Holmes, and LFL stewards and Affinia Healthcare employees Darlenna Cannon and Latasha Kent deposit the first books into the Little Free Library at the location at 4414 N. Florissant. Affinia Healthcare also has libraries at the Ferguson, Lemp Avenue, and Biddle Street locations.
ST. LOUIS, MO — Affinia Healthcare recently joined Change and Action for Racial Equity (C.A.R.E.), Ready Readers, National Council of Black Women, and the Links Incorporated to hold a launch ceremony for four new Little Free Libraries. The ceremony was held at the health center’s North Florissant location. The other LFLs are at Affinia Healthcare’s Ferguson, Lemp Avenue and Biddle Street locations.
“At Affinia Healthcare, we focus on the body and the mind,” said Dr. Kendra Holmes, Affinia Healthcare President & CEO. “For a young girl growing up in North (St. Louis) City, books were the initial engagement and empowerment. Libraries are so much more than just a collection of books. They are a pathway to knowledge, health and upward mobility.”
The concept behind the Little Free Library is to encourage reading and literacy in communities where books may be scarce or not readily accessible. The libraries are stocked with donated books and anyone who wants a book, can take one to read. They are encouraged to return the book(s) once they are read, but it is not required. The long-term goal is for residents to have libraries in their own homes and nurture a love of reading in their families.
About Affinia Healthcare
Affinia Healthcare is an award-winning, nationally accredited health center, providing affordable primary and preventive health care for St. Louis, Missouri, area residents. Affinia Healthcare is a community health center, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and is accredited through The Joint Commission and National Committee of Quality Assurance organizations. Established in 1906 as the Holy Cross Dispensary, Affinia Healthcare today serves over 43,700 people per year, of whom more than 90 percent have incomes under 100 percent of the federal poverty level. Approximately 70 percent of patients served are Black or African American, 11 percent are Hispanic/Latinx, and over 4,000 are un-housed.
The Affinia Healthcare Foundation supports the mission of Affinia Healthcare by helping to ensure high-quality, compassionate healthcare is available to anyone who needs it, regardless of their ability to pay. The Foundation depends on a wide array of funding sources and individual donor contributions to care for the most vulnerable and disenfranchised in our community. To make a donation to the Affinia Healthcare Foundation, visit www.affiniahealthcare.org/donate.
For more information about Affinia Healthcare, call 314-814-8700, or visit www.affiniahealthcare.org.
Sharifah Sims-Williams, M.A. (she/her) | Communications Director
DIRECT: 314-339-3183 (call or text)
EMAIL: sswilliams@affiniahealthcare.org
1717 Biddle Street, St. Louis, MO 63106 | affiniahealthcare.org
Affinia Healthcare has earned Gold-level Seal of Ambulatory Accreditation from The Joint Commission.
New location now open in Ferguson, Mo.!
#AffiniaHealthcare #CARE #LittleFreeLibraries