HOUSTON -- Books are getting a lot of buzz at Houston barbershops, thanks to Barbara Bush's dedication to improving literacy across the country.

• Barbara Bush known for commitment to literacy
• Houston barber shops help to continue mission with books

The former first lady leaves behind many who will carry out that mission.

John Davis, 75, has been cutting hair since he was a kid. 

“I can draw on people’s head and I do all this stuff and at my age I shouldn’t be doing this. I feel good when somebody walks out looking good and then when they get outside they tell somebody about it and that person comes here,” said Davis.

Davis said they keep coming back and inevitably need to wait for an open chair. For some of the young clients, there has been something in the past year to keep them busy during the down time. 

“When they come here a lot of times they don’t want to look at TV, they can read the books,” Davis said. 

J.D.’s House of Style is addressing literacy through the My Brother’s Keeper initiative. 

“Beyond just the rhetoric and gossip and some of that stereotypically goes in a barber shops, they can pick a book up and go to another place, and for so many of our kids, that book becomes a transport to another place,” said My Brother’s Keeper executive director Noel Pinnock.

“I feel motivated reading the Star Wars book because you can find different things that you never read,” said 8-year-old student Nyvien Sidney. 

Support is possible, in part, through former first lady Barbara Bush’s foundation dedicated to literacy. 

“That woman she did a lot of things and I think the world of her myself because when anybody do something for other folks and don’t leave any kids out. That’s the way she was,” said Davis.