Why Summer Reading is Important

At the Hamilton County’s Literacy Institute a few years back, News Channel 12 rolled in and put a camera in front of me. I felt like a cockroach caught in a corner; I didn’t know which way to run. I dreaded being asked a question on camera, because I’ve found that I often don’t know what I think about something until I’ve written about it.

“What is your name and position in Hamilton County Schools?” The microphone swiveled from the interviewer’s mouth towards mine.

“Jeff Paulson, and I teach literacy at Thrasher Elementary School.”

“And…” the interviewer pulled the microphone back, “Why is literacy important?” Again, the microphone.

Why is literacy important? Why is literacy important? My mind wasted precious seconds in bafflement at a question with such obvious answers. One of my many character flaws occurs when I hear a question with an obvious answer—my mind immediately generates a list of sarcastic answers. (Sarcasm, I feel, is one of the lowest forms of humor or thinking, and I would like to train my mind away from it.) But, why is literacy important?

“Um…” I said. “Uh…gosh…I’m sorry.” Didn’t I just tell this woman that I teach literacy, and I apparently can’t explain why literacy is important? My mind pulled up some research I had seen recently: 

• Students that score in the 95th percentile read 90 minutes a day.
• Students that score in the 90th percentile read 60 minutes a day.
• Students that score in the 75th percentile read 20 minutes a day.

But, school isn’t about standardized testing, so I didn’t want to cite that. Also, I had read a report that showed the top 100 indicators of successful schools. The three most important indicators were:

• 3. amount of reading done in school.
• 2. amount of reading done at home.
• 1. amount of parental involvement.

As the sand ran through the timer and the video camera spent digital memory on my blank face, the news anchor shifted from her right foot to her left. I was out of time, so I started in on the obvious answer.

“Literacy is important…because…it’s everywhere. It’s on the internet. Literate people make more money than those who are illiterate. The number of skilled jobs in this country is increasing, and if we’re going to compete in a global marketplace, we need literate citizens.” Annnnnnd cut.

Rats. I gave the math answer to a literacy question.

As the news anchor walked away, I realized within ten seconds that I believe literacy is important for entirely different reasons. Sure, literate people are essential to a national workforce in a global economy. So what? I didn’t decide to be a teacher because I want to enable students to read menus and write memos. I want students to have the ability to get lost in a really good book. I want students to step into the minds and emotions of characters. I want them to go out and discover the world around them, and when they come home at night, I want them to be fascinated by what other people have learned about the world and shared in the pages of a book. Literature—especially in its broadest sense, encompassing whole fields of arts—is important because it increases the quality of life.

And, it’s free.

Maybe it’s not that I don’t know what I think about something until I write about it; maybe I just don’t know how to articulate it until I write about it. I’ll have to think about that.