The Brick and the Doorway

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There are two literacy stories in America right now. One makes headlines.

The other makes readers.

Khari Arnold is one of several fathers in the Atlanta area who are bonding with their kids through reading. Not just handing a book to them, but sitting down and reading with them.

Contrast that with the stories that dominate the literacy headlines. It happened again last week when an organization announced yet another donation of thousands of books to children in the New York area.

Smiles all around. It felt like a win for literacy, and maybe even a small step toward fixing a bigger problem.

Most people think the answer to getting kids to read is a simple equation: give them more books and they’ll read.

Seems logical. More access, more titles, more pages. Problem solved.

It’s a noble thought and the intentions are wonderful. But that’s not really how it works.

Yes, a book can be a doorway.

It can also be a brick.

It all depends on whether anyone ever opens it.

I spent more than 20 years working with students in elementary and middle schools. I watched firsthand as students were given books—some of them award winners, many of them classics.

After a glance, the books were set aside, never to be touched again.

That’s where the problem really lies. Not access. Interest. Just handing them books won’t solve the problem, any more than buying a piano turns someone into Mozart.

Khari Arnold had a different idea: one-on-one reading sessions, where kids share a learning experience with a parent who is fully present.

Arnold says he spent a year doing this with his daughter, then posted an Instagram reel, inviting other fathers to join him. A few did. Then a few more. Before long, there were dozens showing up for these “Library Link-Ups.” It forged a community of fathers who care.

They care not just about their own child’s growth and education, but about the bigger picture. Library Dads has grown into a nonprofit whose pillars are:

Bonding.

Books.

Brotherhood.

The real strength of this organization is the good it’s doing with the group most in need of its help: young boys. America has a crisis on its hands with reading skills, and boys are falling further and further behind.

Few of them have a male role model when it comes to reading, and perhaps never have. The Library Dads are doing something about it.

That goes miles beyond just handing a few books to kids and hoping something sticks.

I’m not knocking book donations; the kids definitely need access to books.

It’s just that we’ve grown to love solving problems with big gestures, the kind that generate headlines. It fools us into thinking we’re making progress.

But sit down and read with one child every day? While it may not register with the news agencies, it’s one of those small gestures that actually changes outcomes.

We don’t have a book shortage.

We have an attention shortage. And the only thing that fixes that is time.

Your time.

Find the Library Dads online at:

https://www.thelibrarydads.org/

Dom Testa writes fiction and nonfiction, and believes the most important lessons aren’t taught, but shared.

Find his work at DomTestaBooks.com.