Laura Bush

Research shows us that children who are read to from a very early age are more likely to begin reading themselves at an early age. They're more likely to excell in school. They're more likely to graduate secondary school and go to college.

When we look around the world today, when we see in Afghanistan that 10 million people have registered to vote in their upcoming elections, including 40 percent of those people are women, that's just unbelievable.

As parents, the most important thing we can do _x000D_ is read to our children early and often. Reading _x000D_ is the path to success in school and life. When _x000D_ children learn to love books, they learn to love _x000D_ learning.

Libraries offer, for free, the wisdom of the ages--and sages--and, simply put, there's something for everyone inside.

Libraries allow children to ask questions about the world and find the answers. And the wonderful thing is that once a child learns to use a library, the doors to learning are always open.