I went to a poor elementary school and the only reason that our library had a good selection was that library funding was tied to how many kids got federal free lunch.

I loved books and my mom actually tried often to get me to stop reading and do something else. Many of my classmates, however, still can’t read. Yes, *can’t* (or at least not very well, and my measure is when they read aloud) and I’m in college. It breaks my heart to know that my peers largely view reading as a chore, rather than something fun and exciting.