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You obviously like to read -- you're doing it right now. But I wonder how many of us have a love of for literacy?

The other day I was pondering my own love-hate relationship with reading. As a child, I was an avid reader. By college, I was forced to read so many "boring" texts, that reading started to feel like a chore. After graduation, I literally had to force myself into a library to recapture my lost love. Today, I'm into fiction... murder mysteries... but don't have time to read as much as I'd like to. Yet increasingly I find myself dreamily wandering past the bookstore - a place I can stay for hours.

Yesterday I got a funny email from a co-worker detailing how life was so different 100 years ago. You know, a loaf of bread only cost 19 cents.. and there were only 8000 cars in the entire U.S. It also mentioned that back then, 2 in 10 Americans couldn't read or write. I wondered how different that is today. So I did some research.

The most comprehensive information I found (though not the most recent) was a federal government study conducted in 1992. The Department of Education's National Adult Literacy Survey asked 26-thousand Americans to complete simple tasks like reading a bus schedule, using an ATM, or reading a judge's instructions to a jury. Profiency was rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best.

Almost a quarter of Americans -- about 40 million -- functioned at the lowest level. Another quarter were considered "level 2" readers whose skills were better, but "quite limited." A third were "level 3" readers -- able to perform more complex tasks after reading a text. Only 1 in 5 American adults were able to achieve the highest literacy rating. (http://www.americanliteracy.com/literacy_figures.htm)

So more than a decade ago, 4 out of 5 American adults were average or below average readers -- with half of them, about 100 million, ranking at the lowest levels. Isn't that sad?

I wondered if things have gotten any better in the last decade. Just two years ago, the National Endowment for the Arts conducted a survey called "Reading at Risk." It concluded that the number of readers is on the decline. The survey said fewer than half of American adults read literature, and notes a loss of 20 million potential readers in the last decade -- most of them young Americans.

Wait a minute -- aren't "young Americans" learning to read?

Perhaps also not a surprise, reading ranked lowest among minority groups, the uneducated and the poor -- not necessarily one in the same. It said twice as many high-income individuals read than those from low-income families. And the survey found that people who read are more likely to be involved in cultural, sports and volunteer activities. (http://www.nea.gov/news/news04/ReadingAtRisk.html)

I know we're all busy, but we've got to stop this -- and our children are a good place to start.

Recently, I've made reading more of a priority in our home at bedtime. We try to visit the library at least once a month and check out a slew of books. I've been reading 3-5 a night. It's a great way to settle them down for bedtime. Even my teenager loves to come in and listen. Last night she was sad because we started without her!

This month's "Parents" magazine includes an interview with NBC'S Today Show host Matt Lauer talking about how he makes reading to his children a priority. The article mentions that August 24 is Jumpstart for Young Children's annual "Read for the Record" event. This year's book is a classic: "The Little Engine that Could." All parents are asked to read the book to their children that day. (You can register at www.readfortherecord.org)

What a great way to "jumpstart" the school year! Consider picking up the book, if you don't have it.

And while you're at it, pick up a book for yourself, too.

Happy reading!

News Mom "T"