Both the popular media and professional literature are filled with suggestions on how to improve literacy. We are told, for example, to try roller-skating, chess, music, and even reading aloud to dogs. There is no research support for any of these options. The one approach that always works, however, is rarely mentioned: Provide readers with a supply of interesting and comprehensible books. Current research on the effect of access to books and libraries is overwhelming, and even suggests that the presence of a good library can mitigate some of the effects of poverty.
Biography: Dr Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, is a linguist and educational researcher who has published more than 350 books and papers in the fields of second language acquisition, bilingual education and reading.