Third page of this mornings Detroit News ran an article about book vending machines in the Paton Rec Center that allow kids to access books for no charge. These vending machines are sponsored by Jet Blue so it's not an altruistic endeavor. However, it brings to mind a time when we were living in the Parkside Projects and had no easy access to a library. The "Bookmobile" came by, I believe, twice a week, and it opened a door to a lifetime of reading for me. I now have a kindle and make use of the main library in my area. When me moved to the lower east side, I was a frequent visitor to the Montieth library on Kercheval, I believe it is still in operation. [[Can someone confirm?)
The intent of this tread is to make a personal observation. It is my opinion that reading is the key to getting out of the grip of poverty. I realize this is a very general statement, however, it has been my experience that each and every person I know that is an avid reader, no matter what ethnicity, has exceled in school and the work force. I would welcome anyone's comments to the contrary, I'm sure there are exceptions to this rule. I would rather read a good book than see a movie. [[The exception is the Godfather 1 and 2, [[3 sucked)) When I attended Wilbur Wright one of my fellow students turned me onto the James Bond novels, pretty soon most of the class were reading them. Not exactly college prep material but it got a lot of people interested in reading.
I have recently retired and have the luxury of more time to read, I read both Fiction and non Fiction, I making use of the library more often now.