When I was in lower elementary school, our library had a *Bookworm* program each summer. We were allowed 10 books a week. I always checked out the maximum, read them and was able to give an oral report on each one. By the end of June, the librarian just gave me the weekly sticker, saying:”We know you read them and we know you understand them.”
By 5th grade, I was totally bored with the kids section. My father gave me his library card and I began a lifelong love of science fiction. At first, the librarian would call my father to check that I was allowed to use his card. He told her I could read anything in the library. I think that happened twice. My mother was afraid I was reading *inappropriate* things, but I was able to convince her that I had already finished all the children’s series, the teenaged series and the biographies and if she stopped me from reading adult books, I wouldn’t have anything to read at all except romance novels begged from the babysitter. She relented.
I’m no genius. I suck at math. I understand scientific concepts, but not the equations that support them. I learned to use a dictionary on my own and an encyclopedia. Reading is a gateway to knowledge and understanding of the world. I do not understand illiteracy being sanctioned anywhere.