Failing to graduate a populace that values reading has long-term consequences for everyone.

When we meet and I discover that we have read and loved the same books, we are instant friends.

Students need to make their own choices about reading material and writing topics.

A classroom atmosphere that promotes reading does not come from the furniture and its placement as much as it comes from the teacher's expectation that students will read.

If we value all readers, we must value all reading.

The purpose of schools should not be to prepare students for more school. We should be seeking to have fully engaged students now

By believing that only some of our students will ever develop a love of books and reading, we ignore those who do not fall into books and reading on their own. We renege on our responsibility to teach students how to become self-actualized readers. We are selling our students short by believing that reading is a talent and that lifelong reading behaviors cannot be taught.