One of our favorite readers died last evening. Annie was a school crossing guard, in recent years usually posted at the intersection of Holly and Philadelphia.
Almost every day she came into the library and sat and read - and read - and read. In her uniform and usually at one of the most visible tables. Very few working adults set aside time to come into the library almost every day to read. Yes, many adults read in front of their own children at home so that those children will grow up believing that good adults read. Reading to yourself, silently, for your own pleasure, where children can see you is very, very important in creating readers.
But whose reading was an example to all the other children? Annie.
Annie was our own celebrity ALA-Read poster.