Books are love letters (or apologies) passed between us, adding a layer of conversation beyond our spoken words.

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.

Although I enjoy digging through the library to help students find books, my aim is to help them develop self-confidence in choosing books for themselves.

I realized that every lesson, conference, response, and assignment I taught must lead students away from me and toward their autonomy as literate people.

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.

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

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