U.S. soldiers reading books in a YMCA library

Why Learn to Read?

The value placed on literacy has changed over time, shifting from a nineteenth-century moral imperative to a twentieth-century production necessity.
Five female literacy volunteers return to Havana at the end of the literacy campaign in December 1961.

Rosa Hernández Acosta habla sobre la Campaña de Alfabetización Cubana

Armada solamente con unos cuantos libros de texto y una lámpara de queroseno, Rosa Hernández Acosta alfabetizaba en la Cuba rural sin electricidad, agua corriente ni carreteras asfaltadas.
Five female literacy volunteers return to Havana at the end of the literacy campaign in December 1961.

Rosa Hernández Acosta on the Cuban Literacy Campaign

Armed with just some textbooks and a kerosene lantern, Rosa Hernández Acosta taught literacy in rural Cuba without electricity, running water, or paved roads.
A tall bookcase of old books

Who Decides Which Books Are “Great?”

The concept of “Great Books," the historian Tim Lacy explains, developed in the late nineteenth century as an attempt to foster a “democratic culture.”
Two young people reading together.

Is Fan Fiction a Helpful Literacy Tool?

Some teachers are adapting to the internet age by trying to understand the "new literacies" of today's students.
Riverdale Cast

How Archie Got His Groove Back

The setup of Archie Comics was straightforward, as was its protagonist. But the success of Riverdale speaks to the Archieverse's surprising fluidity.
Audiobooks

Is Audio Really the Future of the Book?

The upsurge in audiobooks and podcasts illustrates our heightened interest in digital storytelling, but does listening really count as reading?
student using laptop

Student Writing in the Digital Age

Essays filled with "LOL" and emojis? College student writing today actually is longer and contains no more errors than it did in 1917.