Photo from www.britannica.com featuring the University of Dublin, Trinity College Library
It’s summer. Hot (read: reason to stay inside). No school (read: students have LOTS of free time, for which their parents’ intentions and their own intentions may differ). So, its the season for numerous media articles lamenting “summer slide” or students “forgetting” the academic information from the previous school year to features of popular books to take along on summer vacations.
A recent article 10 Important Life Lessons From Children’s Books – The Atlantic reminded me of the magic of reading–from the feel of the thick, coated, only-in-books glossy paper to the smell of the ink to the fluttery anticipation of the first lines, pregnant with unimagined worlds–ready to transport me, anytime I open the cover. My mom introduced us early and weekly to the library. Maybe it is her love of reading. Maybe it was a cheap (read: free) air-conditioned distraction for an afternoon, especially in the 100 degree Central California Valley heat of summer. Maybe it was the murmuring quiet of the libraries stacks. Whatever combination, reading was always a welcomed friend.
I wonder what Gutenberg would have thought of the Gutenberg Project and the Internet Archive and Google Books, working to democratize literacy in new ways. We inherit a history of people who fought to disseminate knowledge and patiently taught us to read–both those we know (thanks, mom and Mrs. Ackerman) and who we will never meet, except in books.
It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part —Voltaire
Perhaps, more than a short term academic band-aid for summer, reading is a responsibility we’ve earned as a human being.
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Jill Yoshikawa, Ed M, is a University of California and Harvard trained educator and Partner at Creative Marbles Consultancy. You can contact Jill at jill@creativemarbles.com or, read her short biography.
