Meet Daylo (diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization) | a pro-literacy student-led book club

We had the good fortune of connecting with Daylo (diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization) and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi DAYLO, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization (DAYLO) was founded at Beaufort High School in 2021 by then-sixteen-year-old student Holland Perryman, originally as a book club where students could read diverse books of their choosing. DAYLO quickly became BHS’s largest student-led organization, contributing to on- and off-campus events. As DAYLO was beginning to grow to include new chapters at additional schools, the national rise in book bans and challenges reached Beaufort County in the fall of 2022—and DAYLO students from three chapters began responding publicly. The success of their advocacy took DAYLO’s visibility and youth advocacy from the local level to regional and national opportunities, too, and inspired the creation of additional DAYLO chapters. Currently there are nine chapters across our state, including our first collegiate chapter, which we are members of.

DAYLO has now become a nationally recognized model of successful youth-led, pro-literacy advocacy in response to censorship. We have been featured on Nick News, in the forthcoming documentary film Banned Together, and in Education Week, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Book Riot. Additionally, DAYLO has been the subject of front-page news articles in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Charleston Post and Courier and the Beaufort Island News, and also in articles in Beaufort Lifestyle Magazine and South Carolina Voyager.

Recently, twenty DAYLO students and mentors collaborated on the youth advocacy toolkit for the national anti-censorship resource Get Ready, Stay Ready, which provides information for existing student organizations or new groups to adapt or adopt DAYLO’s models.

The key factor in DAYLO’s continued success is that we are—and have always been—first and foremost a pro-literacy book club. All of the DAYLO chapters embrace this foundational aspect of who we are as a group, and this empowers the conversations and connections we forge on campus as a book club and the vital community-building advocacy work we are able to do together off campus, too.

Reading and discussing diverse, challenging literature as a student-led book club inspires close, interpersonal relationships to be formed between students, our advisors, and our supporters and fellow advocates in the communities we serve. To keep things simple however, the classic phrase, “If you do something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life,” sums it up perfectly. The sheer passion every member of DAYLO brings to the group is a driving force behind every success. Love for literature is what united us to begin with, and it continues to be the glue that holds this whole thing together.

The candid conversations, immersive discussions, and reflective self-discoveries that happen because of reading and discussing diverse literature with a group of young people are transformative–which is exactly why access to stories and histories from diverse perspectives are so frightening to book banners and education censors. Giving students a safe and welcoming space in which they can read and discuss books of their choosing, beyond what is required of them by school curriculum, helps them form individual and community identities, ask and answer difficult questions, and commit themselves to being lifelong learners on journeys of self-discovery and self-empowerment. That’s the power of books, and that’s the reward for a lifetime of reading, both individually and as engaged members of literacy communities. That’s also why books and stories need their champions, now more than ever. Experiencing that firsthand through book club discussions is the act of advocacy which makes all other aspects of our pro-literacy mission possible.

What’s also most essential to understanding the success and popularity of DAYLO’s vision is that from the very beginning of Holland’s original vision for a student-led book club, our model has emphasized positivity. DAYLO is a pro-literacy movement. Book bans and acts of censorship are reductive and subtractive; they’re all about taking away books, histories, identities, safety, identities, and respect. In contrast, DAYLO’s model is additive. We’re all about using books and literacy as opportunities for giving and growth, for advancement of the ideals of democracy, for a welcoming invitation into the inclusive house of literature where stories can teach us how to live impactful and fulfilling lives; how to overcome and heal from trauma, loss, grief, inequity, and inequality; and how to create and sustain communities where differences are valued and embraced.

And from that foundational value, there are so many different opportunities for DAYLO members to decide for themselves what their lives as readers and community-minded servant leaders will be and will become over a lifetime.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In addition to being a student-led book club, DAYLO participates in various community-based volunteer events. We find genuine enjoyment and satisfaction in events like the Beaufort Human Library, the community read-alouds that we call Teddy Bear Picnics, and the numerous book drives and distributions of pro-literacy, pro-library, and pro-education materials into our communities.

The Beaufort Human Library (BHL) invites storytelling from diverse representative members of our communities who have empowering stories to tell, which helps build empathy and understanding. In our BHL model, our volunteer storytellers are called “Books,” the attendees are “Readers,” and our DAYLO student facilitators are “Bookmarks.” So far, we have helped host four public editions of our BHL, each attended by more than 100 people.

Inspired by her BHL experiences, past DAYLO student leader and Battery Creek High School graduate Zoe Way initiated an on-campus version of the BHL specifically for student Readers. That program continues at Battery Creek as a popular twice-annual event, with other local schools now expressing interest in replicating it, too.

Our most recognized local event, our Teddy Bear Picnic, is a pro-literacy community read-aloud held on the first Saturday of every month at the Port Royal Farmers Market. All of the Beaufort-based DAYLO chapters participate in reading diversity-themed picture books to students and their families. During some of our Teddy Bear Picnics, we also collaborate with the National Park Service for a special Read with a Ranger program, which includes a read-aloud and art project connected to the mission of the Park Service and DAYLO.

As a result of the successful pro-literacy and anti-censorship advocacy work conducted by DAYLO, we are often invited to speak about our activities to local groups and organizations. In several cases, these talks have been combined with book drives in which our audiences have donated requested books to DAYLO for us to then distribute across our communities. Through the generosity of the book drives, we were able to provide a curated collection of books about libraries, literacy, and censorship to all 34 of the Beaufort County School District libraries. We have also been able to purchase book club selections for our DAYLO chapters. But more than anything else, we freely distribute donated books across our region by consistently re-stocking more than 20 Little Free Libraries—including three book boxes we decorated and donated to laundromats and a food pantry in under-resourced communities. These pro-literacy activities help us bring books and stories and literacy into spaces where they might otherwise be unrepresented or under-represented, which adds tremendously to the accessibility and visibility of diverse literature where we live. It’s also great fun to do!

And remembering to have fun is vital. To be completely honest, the biggest challenge for students starting out in DAYLO is simply taking that first step out of your comfort zone. It’s a daunting prospect at first, but there are so many amazing ways to get involved that once you dip your toe, it’s natural to want to dive all the way in. Doing things like stocking Little Free Libraries is a perfect way to make a difference without having to put yourself fully out there, and for those more socially inclined, Teddy Bear Picnics are a favorite way to engage with the community in a fun and fulfilling manner. Because of the nature of the difficult topics which can be discussed, the Beaufort Human Library is a more challenging environment for students to step into sometimes, but also one of the most rewarding and impactful experiences DAYLO students get to have—and to make possible for our communities to experience.

DAYLO’s model is big enough and inclusive enough that there are so many ways for students to be involved and to be valued, and that too is an essential aspect of what makes our group so special, so sustainable, and so appreciated by all of us involved.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
As a book club that was created by a student intern of the Pat Conroy Literary Center, we may be a little biased in saying this, but our beloved literary community is central to the identity and culture of our lowcountry. So we always encourage guests to visit the Conroy Center (one of Beaufort’s most popular destinations) and our three independent bookstores: NeverMore Books, Beaufort Bookstore, and McIntosh Book Shoppe. Our state’s only children’s bookstore, the Storybook Shoppe, is also in nearby Bluffton. Our DAYLO chapters in Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville are also fortunate to be in communities with amazing independent bookstores.

Beaufort is well-known for being a historic city with a close-knit community. Walking through the streets of downtown is like going to a living, breathing museum. You can’t walk very far without running into some sort of plaque or sign detailing some notable event or incredible person, and there is always someone who can recall amazing memories that have taken place here.

Some must-see locations are Fort Frederick, Fort Fremont, Old Sheldon Church, Penn Center, and the Reconstruction Era National Historic Park. These historic sites have countless stories to tell, and they also inspire the imagination to create new ones. Frequently, as locals, it is easy to forget the beauty and history where we live. We all have our own stories to recall in this beautiful place!

Visitors will also greatly enjoy visiting Hunting Island State Park with a good book or a furry friend. The park also has many trails spanning miles, showcasing nature beyond just the beach.

Our lowcountry is also a foodie’s paradise, with endless options and, thanks to our Culinary Institute of the South, excellent education and training for restaurant staff. Several of DAYLO’s regular meet-up spots for coffee, lunch, or dinner are Herban Market, Corner Perk, Urban Brew, Madison’s, and Q on Bay. And the Port Royal Farmers Market where we host our monthly Teddy Bear Picnics is a great destination for brunch, coffee, and shopping, too.

Lowcountry culture is wonderfully diverse and eclectic, so visitors are certain to find something unique and memorable on every trip, too.

Interviewee Bios

Interview responses were provided by DAYLO student leaders Mickie Thompson and Layn Barber. Mickie is the founder and president of the University of South Carolina Beaufort chapter of DAYLO and a sophomore at USCB pursuing a degree in Biology. Layn is the cofounder and past leader of the Battery Creek High School DAYLO chapter and is now a first-year student at USCB majoring in English.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The support that our adult mentors and advisors provide DAYLO is difficult to overstate. As DAYLO members and student leaders, we have been extremely fortunate to have such accomplished and amazing people guide us. Two of our mentors in particular, Jonathan Haupt (Executive Director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center) and Claire Bennett (Media Center Coordinator and DAYLO Advisor at Beaufort Academy), exemplify the kindness, empathy, encouragement, and support that creates the positive and welcoming environment of DAYLO. They are always willing to help, and they truly care about every student. They continually seek out new opportunities and connections for students as individuals and as a group. We’re really fortunate to have a remarkable group of DAYLO advisors supporting each chapter within our individual schools as well.

The backing of our adult mentors and advisors is invaluable, but we’d be remiss if we neglected to mention that we’re also inspired by DAYLO’s founder and other past student leaders and members, too. The vision of those students guided DAYLO into becoming the group it is today.

As young people, seeing your peers participating in something that they care about with an unbreakable spirit is uniquely inspiring. It’s galvanizing. The connections that students make with one another in DAYLO are different from the ones that are made between student and mentor. We can guide and uplift each other from equal footing in a way that is distinctive to a student-led organization, and that is an essential aspect of DAYLO’s student-led, mentor-advised model as well.

In 1968, after his first year of teaching at Beaufort High School, the internationally acclaimed writer Pat Conroy wrote a letter to his former high school principal and lifelong mentor Dr. Bill Dufford that included this promise: “That is immortality. For what I have learned from you, I will pass on, and it will be passed on and passed on.” Because the late Mr. Conroy is our grand-mentor (the mentor of our mentor Mr. Haupt) and 97-year-old Dr. Dufford is our great-grand-mentor (the mentor of our mentor’s mentor), the students of DAYLO have definitely come to embrace and embody this legacy, too — as we pass it on.

Website: https://linktr.ee/DAYLOBFT

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daylo_reads

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DAYLO.reads

Other: https://www.beaufortlifestyle.com/2024/05/01/daylo/

Image Credits
Photos courtesy of DAYLO

Photo #10, DAYLO mentors Claire Bennett and Jonathan Haupt with Pat Conroy Literary Center’s Little Lowcountry Library, courtesy of Jenny Phillips