Reading

On a weekend trip back in May, I went to a conference where this lady discussed literacy rates in Canada and how she combated it.  She told us about how she created boxes in public areas and filled them with books.  This was essentially a library, but there was no need to "check" any of the books out.  Anybody could take a book and keep them forever if desired.  If one decides to keep the book, however, the book needs to be replaced with another book.

I believe education is important, and I thought this project was a great way to get people to read.  According to dosomething.org, "Kids who don't read proficiently by 4th grade are 4 times as likely to drop out of school."  The National High School Center states the following:

"The correlation between graduation rates and literacy rates are alarming. The National Assessment of Adult Literacy reports that 19% of students that dropout are only able to perform at basic or below-basic levels when presented with prose literacy tasks like reading editorials, news stories, and instructional materials"

If we could encourage reading by offering free books, then perhaps literacy rates would increase and dropout rates would decrease.

Reflection

Being able to do something doesn't show who you are as much as actually demonstrating what you do.  This quote reminds me of the quote, "Actions speak louder than words."  I feel the messages of the two quotes are similar.  They state your actions determine who you are better than your thoughts alone.

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Works Cited:

"Banned Books Club." DoSomething.org. DoSomething.org, n.d. Web. 19 June 2015.

Salinger, Terry. "High School Literacy." The National High School Center. The National High School Center, n.d. Web. 19 June 2015.