Posted in reaction to: "Summer Must-Read for Kids? Any Book" (NY Times blog). Article is in favor of self-selected reading over the summer, but as usual, neglects to mention libraries.
This article confirms that providing children greater access to interesting reading material results in more literacy development.
The article also points out that children from low-income families are particularly unlikely to read over the summer. That’s because children of poverty have little access to books at home, at school and in their communities. Public libraries in high-poverty areas are not well-funded, and have fewer materials and are open fewer hours than those in low-poverty areas.
As the Times notes, programs that give books to children are part of the solution. But the most important and obvious step is better funding of public libraries, especially in high-poverty areas, and more support for librarians who know what children really like to read.
— Stephen Krashen