Literacy & the Joy of Reading

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Literacy creates possibility. It helps people learn, work, participate in their communities, navigate daily life, and understand the world. But reading can also do something less measurable and equally important: it can become a source of pleasure, curiosity, imagination, comfort, and connection.

ACRE places literacy at the center of its mission because the future of books begins with readers. A strong reading culture requires both the skills to read and the experiences that make people want to keep reading.

Becoming a reader is not a single event. It is shaped by families, schools, libraries, educators, booksellers, communities, and the availability of books that meet people at different ages, interests, abilities, and moments in their lives.

ACRE’s role is to help connect the national conversation about literacy with the broader environment in which reading happens. We will elevate research and effective practices, help make the case for reading as a public good, and bring together organizations and individuals working to expand reader engagement and access.

Literacy cannot be separated from access and choice. A person may have the ability to read but few books available to them. A young reader may disengage when books that speak to their interests or experiences disappear from a collection. Libraries and educators may struggle to connect people with books when resources are limited or collection decisions become politicized.

The health of the creative ecosystem matters as well. Readers benefit when authors and publishers can continue investing time, talent, and resources in new stories, scholarship, ideas, and voices. ACRE’s work on freedom of expression, public policy, and human creativity therefore begins and ends with readers.

This page will share literacy research, reader-engagement initiatives, partnership stories, perspectives from educators and librarians, and resources that help explain the connections among reading ability, access, choice, and lifelong reading.