TAMPA, Fla. — There is an effort to get more Bay area residents reading through something called dreamboxes.

They are sprinkled all around the University area, and anyone can come and take a book, or leave a book behind that they've already read.

And thanks to the dreamboxes, some residents say they're reading more than ever before.

"My mom sometimes brings me to the dreambox and we get a book," said Eliana Burrus. "I like reading a lot of books."

Burrus and her mom were there last year when the first dreamboxes were installed by the University Area Community Development Corporation.

They say going to the boxes to pick out books together has become part of their regular, daily routine.

That's exactly what leaders at the CDC say they hoped would happen. The goal of installing the mini-libraries is to promote literacy by increasing residents' access to books.

Now, to celebrate literacy week, the CDC is installing three more — something Eliana's mom says she welcomes.

"It does wonders in building her reading skills, but it does even more in building the bond I have with my daughter," said Tina Bennett. "Because we spend that time together, and it's something she looks forward and I look forward to every night."

"And she gets excited that we're going to the box to find a new book and if we don't find a book in one box we walk, we have a little walk together, and we go to the next box and find one down there."

Plans are in the works to create and install 12 more dreamboxes in the university area by the end of the year.

All of the books in the dreamboxes are donated. More children's books and books in Spanish and Creole are needed, according to the CDC.

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