Fairfield University’s Adrienne Kirby ’81 Family Literacy Project (AKFLP) received a $25,000 grant from the F.M. Kirby Foundation to increase community access to high-quality early learning experiences and literacy resources.
On a fall afternoon, children at the Hall Neighborhood House’s Early Learning Center in Bridgeport, Conn., lined up to choose books at the annual Trunk or Treat, leaving the event with four to five new stories to call their own. The fair reflects a longstanding partnership between Fairfield University, the Bridgeport community, and the F.M. Kirby Foundation.
Each year, the F.M. Kirby Foundation provides $15,000 in support to Fairfield’s AKFLP for literary initiatives in Bridgeport. In addition, the Foundation established an endowment nearly 20 years ago to ensure the project’s longevity, contributing another $10,000 annually. Together, the $25,000 in yearly support sustains community-centered literacy programming.
“We are deeply appreciative of the support of the F.M. Kirby Foundation over the decades,” said AKFLP director Jeanne Peloso, PhD, assistant professor of the practice in psychology. “Their funding is instrumental to our work and allows us to establish strong partnerships in Bridgeport with Hall Neighborhood House and Kindred Thoughts Bookstore.”
Kindred Thoughts Bookstore is the only brick-and-mortar bookstore in downtown Bridgeport; having purchased more than $25,000 in books over the years, AKFLP is its biggest customer.
A central focus of AKFLP’s work is its partnership with Hall Neighborhood House (HNH). In addition to the annual book fair, the project has expanded classroom libraries across HNH’s Early Learning Center over the past four years, providing approximately 400 new books for its 20 classrooms in 2025 alone.
Academic Scholarship & Community-Based Literacy
Housed in the John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, AKFLP was founded by Judy Primavera, PhD, professor of psychology, to connect academic scholarship with community-based literacy initiatives. The project is now led by Dr. Peloso, alongside associate director Amanda Haber, PhD, assistant professor of psychology.
AKFLP’s partnership with HNH creates hands-on learning opportunities for Fairfield Meditz undergraduates. The “Child Development” psychology course, offered in collaboration with the Center for Social Impact, includes a lab component at HNH, giving students direct experience in early childhood education. As part of the course, students donate books to their assigned classroom and spend time reading with children.
AKFLP’s work further extends Fairfield Meditz's undergraduate research and enrichment programming. In addition to students tutoring at an HNH after-school program, student researchers have examined how stories of struggle and success can help underrepresented children see themselves in STEM fields. They've also partnered with Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo on its Mobile Zoo Program, to deliver STEM instruction to 10 preschool classrooms at HNH.
Learn more about the John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences at fairfield.edu/meditz.
