Burton-Pack Elementary School officially opened three new Little Libraries on Wednesday, with 400 books initially stocked across them. The ceremony brought together Columbia’s mayor, a university mascot, and community partners who have been working to get more books into the hands of local kids.
The new libraries came together through a partnership between Burton-Pack Elementary, the City of Columbia, the Columbia chapter of The Links, Incorporated, and the University of South Carolina’s Cocky’s Reading Express, according to Columbia Daily. Cocky’s Reading Express is the university’s literacy outreach initiative, traveling to Title I elementary schools across South Carolina to perform storytimes and hand out free giveaway books, per the USC College of Information and Communications. The program primarily serves students from 4K through fifth grade.
Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann attended the opening alongside Sharon Aldridge, president of the Columbia chapter of The Links, Incorporated, and Cocky, the USC mascot, the Columbia Daily report notes. Burton-Pack Principal Robin Hill-Davidson thanked supporters for recognizing the importance of literacy and for helping promote a love of learning among the school’s students, according to the same report. The school has said its literacy efforts aim to prepare each scholar for college and career readiness.
Mayor Shares Personal Reading Story
Rickenmann told students that reading had been an outlet and a source of learning for him, per Columbia Daily’s account of the ceremony. He added that books can introduce new ideas and spark creativity while teaching kids about both history and the future. The mayor encouraged the students to choose books based on their own interests and to think about how they might contribute to their community.
The three libraries started with 400 books between them, a number Rickenmann cited at the event, Columbia Daily reported. During the ceremony, Cocky and members of Cocky’s Reading Express read a story aloud to the students and invited the group to participate along the way.
A Program Built on Volunteers and a Decade-Plus on the Road
Cocky’s Reading Express has been promoting childhood literacy for 20 years, marking its anniversary in 2025, according to the USC College of Information and Communications. Since 2012, Cocky and a rotating group of student volunteers have been pulling up to elementary schools across the state in a custom-wrapped bus sponsored by BP, per a University of South Carolina feature. The university's report describes the operation as visiting at least one Title I school every week, reaching all 46 counties in South Carolina.
In 2025 alone, the program put more than 22,200 books into the hands of more than 15,500 students, the same university account states. Since 2005, more than 4,000 volunteers have logged over 16,000 service hours across more than 800 events, the report adds. One volunteer described it to WIS-TV as a student-run effort, saying, “this is a student-run organization. I mean, it’s all students, volunteers that are alongside me,” as reported by WIS-TV.
Little Free Libraries Have Popped Up Across the Midlands
Little Free Libraries Have Popped Up Across the Midlands Burton-Pack’s new installations follow a string of similar projects around the Columbia area. Cocky’s Reading Express debuted a Little Free Library at Edward E. Taylor Elementary School in Richland School District One in December 2023, according to ABC Columbia, giving students chances to choose books throughout the year and keep them.
At other recent stops, including White Knoll Elementary and Oak Grove Elementary, Cocky’s Reading Express has paired visits with singing, dancing and reading activities, sending every child home with a new book. “We’re reading, we’re dancing, we’re singing, of course, and we’re making sure every single kid goes home with a book to keep,” a program representative told WIS-TV of the White Knoll stop. At Oak Grove, the station reported, “Perhaps the best part of the day is that every child went home with a brand new book to build their own home library.”
The program’s popularity has outpaced its capacity, with more than 70 elementary schools on its waiting list as of last year, according to The Daily Gamecock. The student newspaper reported that Cocky’s Reading Express typically visits 12 to 20 schools per semester, making one to two trips a week. Total lifetime book counts vary by source: WIS-TV has reported the program has given out more than 180,000 books over its 20-year history, while The Daily Gamecock, citing the USC College of Information and Communications, put the total at 174,900 books.
