Friday rant...

Hello fellow book lovers. Nothing like a gorgeous Friday to whet your appetite for some good summer reading. Challenge yourself to pick up something this weekend that will inspire you to read more often. Go online, to a bookstore, to the library, to your local news stand and get
reading. It is encouraging to other people when they see some one else enjoying a good book.
Did you know that in Iceland their reading success level is 100%. There is a bookstore on every corner. Outdoor patios are crammed full of people sipping coffee and yes,....reading! Not only is the population fluent in their own language (which is one of the hardest languages on the planet to master) but they also are totally fluent in English. The whole little country has taken the seriousness of reading and implanted the value and success of being literate into every one of it's citizens, young and old. What happened to the rest of the world? Our literacy rate in Canada is appalling. Our kids cannot read at grade level, are dropping out of school and are not being taught even the basics to make them functional literate adults. Shame on us! We have the money, skills, teaching power and knowledge to make literacy #1 and we refuse to do so. Can you imagine the difference in our world when everyone (both boys and GIRLS) were give the opportunity to read? We must keep the reading torch burning. We must campaign, get angry, march, strike, make our voices heard. Every child has the right to read, no matter the gender or the country of origin. Buy a book. Pass a book on. Borrow a book. Get them circulating. Buy books for gifts. Send books to other countries that are in dire need of them. Books matter. Reading matters. Reading is critical to our culture and to our future. Be a catalyst....read on, and on, and on. Amen.