WEBVTT

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Cancer, heart disease, diabetes -

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these are considered some of the most
serious issues facing our planet today

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and justifiably so.

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According to the International Agency
[for Research on Cancer],

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over eight million people
are claimed each year due to cancer.

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The World Health Organization
reports that heart disease -

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the leading cause of death
worldwide annually -

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touches 17.3 million people each year.

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The WHO also reports

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that an estimated 422 million people
worldwide, including myself,

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live with diabetes.

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Do you know what affliction

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affects an estimated
one billion people across the globe,

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approximately 1/7
of the world's entire population?

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Illiteracy.

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That is not to undermine

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the importance of funding and research
for these other afflictions.

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On the contrary,

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it's to highlight the seriousness
and importance of illiteracy,

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and that if it was a health issue
would be deemed an epidemic,

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but unlike these other issues
that currently do not have cures,

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illiteracy does.

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Illiteracy is not a social
or societal or cultural defect;

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it's the lack of ability to read.

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It's a solvable problem.

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But what is illiteracy? How is it defined?

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There are many forms of literacy:

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computer literacy, health literacy,
financial literacy, and others.

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For the sake of today's conversation,

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we're going to talk about
what a bulk of the population thinks of

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when they hear the word "illiteracy" -

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the basic inability to understand
or produce written information.

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Those of us that make
our ways through life

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off of sight words, images,
just being able to sign our name,

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those folks are functionally illiterate.

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And as vaccines help to eliminate and stop
the spread of disease,

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literacy can help us eliminate,

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to stop the spread
of hunger, poverty, and crime.

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It is the tool necessary
to break those harsh social cycles.

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The data is telling and troublesome.

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Students who exit fourth grade
without being able to read proficiently

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have a 78% chance of not ever catching up.

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90% of welfare recipients are
either high school dropouts or illiterate.

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85% of individuals that interface
with a juvenile court system

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are either functionally illiterate
or don't read with proficiency.

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No one factor can so drastically shape

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a person's chance of success,
earning potential, health, and well-being

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while helping to break the cycle

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that leads to daily poverty
and struggle like literacy.

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There are countless examples

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of how literacy has impacted a life
or changed a community,

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but I'm going to share one of the ones
that I'm at least the most familiar with -

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my own.

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But first a quick survey.

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And for some, the questions
can feel personal,

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so if you choose not to participate,
there's no judgment here.

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But how many of us when we were growing up

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were on some kind
of government assistance,

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whether that was food stamps
or Section 8 housing?

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How many of us came from a home
of either single parent or divorce?

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How many of us
when we were in grade school

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were on free or reduced lunch?

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The data tells us

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that about 82% of students

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that are eligible
for free and reduced lunch

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don't read at proficiency, at grade level.

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Three out of four food stamp recipients
perform at the lowest literacy levels.

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I had all of these factors
in my childhood;

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in fact, I'm the least likely person
to be standing before you today

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as an authority on literacy
and education initiatives,

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seeing as how I barely
graduated high school.

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And you're may be like "Whoa, T!
I just heard your intro.

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You were the Texas librarian of the year.

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You have a master's degree.

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You frequently speak
on children's literacy and literature.

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You're articulate
and well-dressed and handsome."

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(Laughter)

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See how many will get in there.

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My journey begins not far
from where you sit today -

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the booming metropolis of Lubbock Texas.

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That is neither handsome nor well-dressed.

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(Laughter)

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Were we all that bad in the '90s
or was I just so off-base?

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And what is with
the suspenders and the belt?

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Where were my pants going that I was
so concerned that I needed both?

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(Laughter)

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That's on a fade, thankfully.

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My mother, she grew up
in a small farming community

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southwest of Lubbock, called Meadow.

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She had a very stable upbringing,
my grandfather ran the cotton gin there.

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She had stability - three square meals
a day, a roof over her head.

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She graduated high school
but didn't finish college,

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ended up marrying my father
and having me.

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I think trouble was always brewing
under the surface,

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and when I was seven,
my parents divorced and my father left.

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I didn't see or hear from my father
from 1986 until his death, in 2007.

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My mother - God rest her soul,
she passed in 2014 -

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she did the best she could,

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but with no higher education,
it was difficult to be the breadwinner.

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So she was gone a lot,

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working, trying to keep a roof
over our head and food on the table.

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But with no siblings,
I was home alone a lot,

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and that's where my struggles began.

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My grades began to suffer.

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I was passable, barely more.

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I acted out, was the class clown,

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which, after years of counseling,

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I know was just my way
of trying to get attention.

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I spent a lot of time
running with the wrong kind of crowd,

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doing things young men ought not do.

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I've got a lot of detention in study hall,

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but for me, staying after school
for detention in study hall

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was better than going home
to an empty house.

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And detention in study hall
happened to be in the school library.

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Now, I was an adequate reader,

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but it doesn't help your street cred

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to be seen carrying the newest
Baby-Sitters Club or Goosebumps book.

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(Laughter)

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But the library was a safe,
comfortable environment,

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and that's where my transformation began.

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I think we can all identify
at least one teacher or educator

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that had a great impact on our lives.

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For me, one of those

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was the librarian at Bowie
Elementary School in Lubbock, Texas -

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Miss Ray.

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Now while all of the other teachers

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were sending me to the office
or putting me in a corner -

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not that I blame them,
because I was a pill -

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Miss Ray engaged me in a meaningful way.

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She told me about this award for books

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where the children of Texas
got to vote on the winner.

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It was called the Texas Bluebonnet Award,

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and all you had to do to be eligible

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was read five of this list
of 20 books, and that was it.

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For me, the idea that I could help decide

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what the best children's book
in Texas was just by reading

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was magical.

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Just five - of course I read all 20.

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I'm sitting in tutorials anyway.

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And while I'm sure Miss Ray

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would have preferred me to work
on my schoolwork and improve my grades,

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I was transfixed by the idea
of belonging to something,

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being a part of something.

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See, when I was reading,

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it didn't matter that I was on food stamps
or that my father had abandoned me

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or that all my friends knew
I was on free lunch at school.

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It changed me and helped me to believe

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that my life had all the opportunity
that I was willing to take advantage of.

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Now I never did become a good student,
and I did barely graduate high school,

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but because of Miss Ray,
I had the foundational skill of reading

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that serves as a key
to unlock upward mobility for life.

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I don't know where Miss Ray is now.

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I don't know where she is
or what she's doing,

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and I've never been able
to appropriately thank her,

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but I hope that my life in literacy
is suitable thanks.

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Traditional education is important,

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but reading is the foundation upon which
all other essential skills are built.

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I am an example

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of the transformative power
that literacy can have on your life

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and help to break the harsh social cycles
we sometimes find ourselves in.

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A third of all children born into poverty
will stay there through adulthood,

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but because of Miss Ray and many others
along the way that took an interest,

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I'm not a part of that statistic.

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All of this is why schools and libraries

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should be cathedrals,
beacons of light on the highest hill,

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proclaiming to all that here
is where you change your life,

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here is where meaningful,
impactful progress is made.

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Librarians and teachers should be lauded
for the work they're doing -

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educating our children and trying
to make the world a better place

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through education.

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The investment in the intellectual
development of our children

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is not a nice-to-have,

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it's a must have.

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The ability to read
is a fundamental human right.

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It's like access to clean
drinking water or health care.

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Its impact is every day.

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180 million children worldwide
will never darken the door of a school,

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but if they can read,
they stand a chance -

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a chance to make their lives better,

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a chance to make
their family lives better,

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a chance to impact their communities
or villages or cities.

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And when we're talking about impact,

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the greatest impact
is a child's access to books.

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Children that have books at home

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is a greater indicator of future success
than their parents' education level.

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Middle-class-income households,
a child to book ratio's about 1 to 13.

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In low-income areas, that changes,

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and the age-appropriate book
is one for every 300 children.

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So my challenge
for all of us today is this:

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We need to get books
into the hands of kids

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that will make a difference,
where it will have an impact.

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The next time you're invited
to a birthday party,

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instead of taking a toy
that's going to break in a week,

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take a book.

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Stick a book in the stocking.

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Support your local literacy initiatives.

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Support your local public library.

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I envision a world

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where children have access at home
to the same number of books

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that is at least their age.

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If every eight-year-old had access
to at least eight books at home,

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and every 13-year-old
had 13, and 17 had 17,

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can you imagine the impact
that that would have on their generation?

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And thereby future generations?

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The great Laura Bush -

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oh my, that is a handsome,

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my lovely wife on the left
and then the legend,

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and Mrs. Bush is there as well.

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(Laughter)

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The great Mrs. Bush,

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who is a librarian by profession
and a personal hero of mine,

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once said that children who read
learn two things:

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First, that reading is worthwhile,

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but second, that they are worthwhile.

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Literacy is important.

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Literacy matters.

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Literacy can make a difference.

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Whatever the question,
literacy is the answer.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)