Blog: 'Oh, The Places You'll Go!'

The confluence of a couple of current events has caused me to think lately about reading … as a leisure pastime, as a tool for success, as a connection between generations. 

One event is the opening last week of the new Los Gatos Public Library.  Besides being a gorgeous facility, it is most remarkable for the enthusiasm it has sparked among the kids of the community.

Another event is our annual Los Gatos Morning Rotary project for celebrating the birthday of Dr. Suess, on March 2, when Rotarians will fan out to the elementary schools in the district to read “The Cat in the Hat” and other Dr. Suess books to the youngsters.

As the kids gather round to listen (and often to call out the reader when a mistake is made!), there is such joy and appreciation in the little faces that the session would gladly go on all day.

These events are happening against the backdrop of books morphing into digital displays on our e-readers; the growing proliferation of video entertainment “on demand” through every medium and device; and the widely held perception that literacy is on the decline. 

So what is the future of reading, and what are our responsibilities to influence the outcome? Modern studies of childhood development uniformly agree on the tremendous neural and psychological benefits of reading to children from a very young age, and of instilling the love of reading for when they are able to do so on their own. 

My dad (of whom I often write) was a voracious reader, growing up on the farms of Eastern Oregon. He passed this on to his kids, and when I grew up, with my own young boys, every bedtime found me sitting in the “frog cushion” chair next to their bunk-beds, reading Disney books, or Johnny Dixon, or the Hardy Boys. 

Let’s face it: love of reading cannot be force-fed. It can only be carefully nurtured and cultivated in our children as they grow, until they develop their own appetites for exploring the world and the universe through the printed word.

We can help every day, with our own young kids and grandkids, or by being a reading resource for the community, or even by simply supporting public facilities like our own new library.

Town Council Member Diane McNutt sets a great example for all of us in her support of Silicon Valley Reads. Like her, each of us must find a way to help kids discover the wonderful world that is out there in books. As Dr. Suess said, in “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!”:

“So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So ... get on your way!”