Sad but True, You Should Read This

All of you know that I'm an avid reader. So it shouldn't surprise you that I visited the local library here in western Jamaica to pick up some reading material for my stay. What I saw will shock you.


As I entered the only library in an area of 807 square kilometers and home to about 141,000 people, I was stunned. The juvenile/young adult fiction section was smaller than the La Jolla branch's DVD collection. The entire children's section, fiction and non-fiction, was approximately as large as the adult computer section in our local library. They had about 5 computers available for the children to use. And the scanners and barcodes that we are so accustomed to were nonexistent. All checkouts are recorded by hand in several ledgers and on multiple cards.


At home we benefit from the amazing public library system, the school library and computer lab, and the extensive collections of local colleges. Although we consistently complain about underfunding, we have an incredible amount of knowledge at our fingertips. Many of us were read to frequently as a children, and exposed to books at an early age. Children in Jamaica need help. The dream of literacy is constantly in jeopardy, and many are deprived of the comfort and solace we so often seek in good stories.


It is important that we support literacy, reading, and learning in developing countries because it is a life-altering tool and life-changing gift that we take for granted far too often. Value this sentence: Because I can read I can _______________.