For me, a library full of books has always represented possibility.
As a 15-year-old in search of my first job, I walked to the Watertown (CT) library and asked to be hired. I had always had a fascination with literature, reading and journalism, and had been raised in a family of readers. Much to my surprise, after a brief discussion, I was hired.
Inside the walls of that library, exposed to so many books on so many topics, I discovered just how rich and varied the world outside of myself and my small town could be. My reading expanded far beyond the usual fare of sports biographies and required school reading. I consumed dozens of books on anything that struck my interest: world history, archeology, science, astronomy, languages, the world wars, business, economics, politics — no topic was off limits. I expanded the fiction I read to include authors rarely mentioned in school, both challenging and not-so-challenging. During this pre-Internet age, the library was my tunnel to all the world has to offer. My reading there has informed the unfolding of the rest of my adult life in amazing and unexpected ways.
Working at the library also offered an entrance into a sense of community stronger than I had ever experienced before. In that community — like in many others — the library served as a central gathering place, the spot where senior citizens and college students and stay-at-home moms all intersected to find entertainment, activities and connections to one another. Hundreds of children attended the summer reading program each year. The most active readers competed to get their hands on the newest books each week. The latest town controversies were dissected, analyzed and discussed. What developed was a true open forum for the free exchange of ideas, a micro-cosm of our American ideals — as lofty as that sounds.
When a friend recommended that I might want to join the Board of Raising a Reader MA, I jumped at the chance. By introducing our youngest children — and those struggling at the same time to learn English as a second language, often in a bi-lingual home — to the magic of reading, Raising a Reader is showing these children the possibilities before them. Extensive research has shown that children who are read to before the age of five are far less likely to end up in prison, and far more likely to complete high school and college. By giving parents the skills to read to their children, and by helping all children make reading a habit as much a part of their daily lives as brushing their teeth or eating, Raising a Reader is helping to create a safer, more productive future for our children and our communities.
This is why I decided to become a Raising a Reader board member. I hope my contributions will help in some small way.
Jim Bodor is a senior digital product development professional with over 20 years experience in the news media industry. As Director of Product Development of Boston.com, a division of the New York Times Co., he oversees the product development efforts of the largest news and information web site in Boston and the 7th largest such site in the nation. Earlier in his career, Jim served in a variety of capacities at New York Times Co. newspapers, including time as an award-winning business reporter. Jim is a graduate of Fairfield University, and lives in a 140-year old house with his wife and three children. His passion for literacy and reading was kindled when he accepted his first job as a teenager at a public library in Connecticut.