Exposing students to lots of books and positive reading experiences while building a network of other readers who support each other provides students with tools that last beyond the classroom setting.

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

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.

I try to teach my students that books are a mirror, reflecting their own lives, and a window, giving them a peek into someone else's.

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.

Failure is not an option, so why talk about it?

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.