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2,500+
Library Systems -
6,000+
School Buildings -
180
School Districts -
13.8M+
Readers
Who We Are
The early idea for our company came one night when we were reading a book to our 2-year-old son and soon-to-be big brother.
He pointed to biracial characters on the page that actually looked like him and said, “That's me, and that's little sister.”
From Reading Recommendations
We started a book-of-the-month business focusing on non-traditional genres and interests, and quickly found many supportive and enthusiastic backers—including Mark Cuban after a “Shark Tank” appearance. Not long after, however, we realized we needed to reimagine our business model to be truly successful and reach more readers.
Our 2014 "Shark Tank" appearance. Felix Brandon Lloyd, left, was named Washington, D.C.'s Teacher of the Year. Jordan Lloyd Bookey, right, spent years as Google's Head of K-12 Education Outreach.
To Reading Challenges
At the time, our most trusted curators were children's and school librarians. Working together, we adapted our new technology, called Beanstack, to curate children's books and deliver personalized recommendations to community members. Later, a partner library used Beanstack as a platform for an innovative summer reading challenge. Through these new ideas, our purpose became clear again—to empower libraries and schools to build a culture of reading through reading challenges and motivation tools for readers of all ages.
To AI That Supports Real Reading Growth
As Beanstack grew, so did our mission. With Book Talks with Benny, we’re helping schools go beyond logging to build a deeper reading culture—one friendly conversation at a time. Benny, our AI-powered companion, engages students in open-ended chats that surface engagement, comprehension, and honesty. Educators get real-time insights without relying on quizzes or pressure, and students stay motivated to read, reflect, and grow.
Today at Beanstack
What We Do
The product featured on “Shark Tank” is very different from what we offer today. But our mission, purpose, and goals remain the same. We help educators and librarians encourage reading by making it easy to create and promote reading challenges for their communities. We motivate people to reach reading goals by tracking when, how much, and what they read. We've built several tools to do this:
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Customizable reading challenge platform:
Enterprise-level software for libraries and schools.
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Our 4.8-star mobile app:
A mobile app for partner schools and libraries that can also be used independently by families.
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Easy-to-use reading challenge templates:
Ready-made reading challenges that promote great books, activities, and more.
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Diverse book recommendations:
The foundational personalized recommendation system that remains part of our secret sauce.
What We're All About
Reading is our passion. Offering technology that motivates people to read is our focus. But looking even deeper, our three core values are at the “heart” of all we do.
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Love
We are kind and grateful, especially when it is hard to be kind and grateful.
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Inclusion
We believe diversity of people, experiences, and ideas makes us closer, stronger, and better.
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Awesomeness
We deliver on expectations. We go the extra mile.
Where We're Going
Over the years, we focused intently on making Beanstack the single best tool for facilitating reading challenges, primarily for libraries and schools. We're proud of the work we've done, the products we've developed, the team we've assembled, and the company we've grown. But most of all, we're proud of the libraries and schools that help so many people keep reading. We're doing this for them. And we're excited to show you what's next.
