Thoughts, facts, figures on reading

Facts and figures

 Today's 8- to 18-year-olds spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes using entertainment media across a typical day — or more than 53 hours a week. This is up from 6 hours and 21 minutes in 2004, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

 Over the past five years, time spent reading books remained steady at about 25 minutes a day. Time with magazines and newspapers dropped from 14 minutes to 9 minutes a day for magazines and from 6 minutes to 3 minutes a day for newspapers. The proportion of young people who read a newspaper in a typical day dropped from 42 percent in 1999 to 23 percent in 2009. (Kaiser Family Foundation)

 Approximately $2 billion is spent each year on students who repeat a grade because they have reading problems. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

 85 percent of all juvenile offenders in our courts systems have reading problems. (U.S. Department of Education)

 60 percent of American's prison inmates are illiterate. (U.S. Department of Education)

 More than three out of four of those who are on welfare are illiterate. (Washington Literacy Council)

Thoughts on reading

"A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others." — Abraham Lincoln

"We read to know we are not alone." — C.S. Lewis

"The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." — Dr. Seuss

"The greatest gift is a passion for reading." — Elizabeth Hardwick

"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance." — Confucius

"Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers." — Harry S Truman

"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all." — Jacqueline Kennedy

"Literacy unlocks the door to learning throughout life, is essential to development and health, and opens the way for democratic participation and active citizenship." — Kofi Annan

"A home without books is a body without a soul." — Marcus Tullius Cicero