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.

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

If you don't read, I don't know how to communicate with you...I can never express who I am in my own words as powerfully as my books can.

Readers enjoy talking about books almost as much as they like reading.

I never tell students they cannot read a book they pick up, but I do guide them toward books that I think would be a good fit for them. I think of myself as a reading mentor-a reader who can help them find books they might like.

I am a reader, a flashlight-under-the-covers, carries-a-book-everywhere-I-go​, don't-look-at-my-Amazon-bill. I choose purses based on whether I can cram a paperback into them, and my books are the first items I pack into a suitcase. I am the person who family and friends call when they need a book recommendation or cannot remember who wrote Heidi. My identity as a person is so entwined with my love of reading and books that I cannot separate the two.

Our children shouldn't have to wait for adulthood to become wild readers. For many, it will be too late.