Since humans have been on this planet, the ability to pass on information to the younger generation has allowed us to survive, develop, and flourish into who we now are. Writing and reading books have been the main way that this has happened; Children across history and cultures have alike been inspired, moved, and instructed by books to change the world for the better. Even today, reading is integral to social mobility and economic development, with lower reading levels heavily linked to lower incomes. Yet there is a problem. Literacy rates, the ability of the next generation to absorb the information left by their predecessors, are on a historic decline: 2023 has seen the lowest literacy rates among 9 year-olds since 1990, continuing a trend that began during the pandemic, but extended past that [1] [2]. This problem is only exacerbated by socioeconomic class, [3] often as a result of a lack of resources necessary to foster such important skills. This is a problem affecting all Americans that is especially prevalent in communities that need it most.

1. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), various years, 1971–2023 Long-Term Trend (LTT) Reading and Mathematics Assessments.

2. “U.S. reading and math scores drop to their lowest levels in decades.” Morning Edition. NPR, 22 June 2023.

3. Korat, O. (2005). Contextual and Non-Contextual Knowledge in Emergent Literacy Development: A Comparison between Children from Low SES and Middle SES Communities. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 20(2), 220-238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2005.04.009.

4. Nietzel, M.T. (2023) Low literacy levels among U.S. adults could be costing the economy $2.2 trillion a year, Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2020/09/09/low-literacy-levels-among-us-adults-could-be-costing-the-economy-22-trillion-a-year/ (Accessed: 22 September 2024).