Imagine not being able to enjoy the word of Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, J.K. Rowling, Shakespeare, Dickinson, Jane Austen…and many more who have contributed to expand the world of writing and imagination.

This thought makes me sad, especially as a person who stays up all night to finish a book I just can’t put down (unfortunately leisure reading doesn’t happen as much anymore). I understand that are people who prefer not to read and think that going to see the film version is sufficient, but that’s a whole different topic.

I am talking about the inability to enjoy great works because you can’t read. According to a Temple article, statistics compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics, Philly has the highest rates, about 22%, of people aged 16 and older who lack basic literacy skills in the state og Pennsylvania.

There may be a number of reasons why a person is not able to read, lack of encouragement or examples, learning disabilities, and many more, but these problems generally start when children are young. On top of this, many students are pushed through the education system without an adequate reading abilities, which automatically leads them to get poorer grades.

Within Philadelphia, there are programs organized by the Center for Literacy aimed at helping people of all ages improve their reading skills and the School District of Philadelphia has recently expanded its alliance with McGraw Hill Education to offer Imagine It! and Glencoe Literature programs in Philly’s Empowerment Schools as a PR Newswire article explained.

As a part of Drexel’s Week of Writing, we are doing our part to contribute to this issue through the Bookfair for Literacy held on Friday, May 21 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. in the Main Building. Please donate any books you may have