Like most of us, I love a good story. My favorite book series growing up was one that my parents and I always used to read together. It was called Alice in Bibleland and they probably bought it because it was a cute, easy-to-understand way of teaching me the gospel and good values. I liked it because at the beginning of each story, Alice was given the opportunity to literally step inside the book and visit the place she was reading about. She sat at the foot of the manger and peered in, she watched David defeat Goliath from behind a tent, and she walked into the King’s throne room beside the hem of Esther’s skirt. What adventures her life yielded! I have always wanted to be able to step into whatever book I chose and wander around the author’s imagination.

But isn’t that just what reading is? Although it would be cool if I could be physically present in the story’s setting, virtually being there is adequate. In fact, if you have any imagination at all--thumbing through the pages of a book is more than adequate. As the beginning of every Alice in Bibleland story started out: “Reading is the magic key to take you where you want to be”.

Books were my life growing up. Every dollar earned or spare dime found went into them. I would spend hours a day scrolling through the web and reading the descriptions, trying to find the perfect next adventure to go on. Belle has always been my favorite Disney princess and my reasons for that have grown in number, but back then there was just one: her library. One of my favorite Christmas presents was a stack of books so large that it started down at my extended arms and stretched up to my raised chin. I giggled maniacally as I struggled to walk them up to my room. I thought the term “book-worm” would permanently be a part of my identity and I was completely okay with that.

Then high school came and I still asked for books for my birthday and sneaked them into my Mom’s cart at the store, but they would take me months to read. Just two years earlier, I wouldn't have waited until we were in the car till I had broken in their binding. As freshmen year of college approached, I got the largest cardboard box I could find, spent a good hour choosing which of my favorites from my personal library to put in it, and then filled it to the rim. My Mom bought me a bookshelf to store them on and they were brought with me to school and remained with me through my studies for the duration of Freshmen and Sophomore year. Junior year, I left the bookshelf at home and brought a mere twenty books with me. I kept them neatly on my desk and maybe opened one all year. It’s now the summer before my senior year and I promised myself I would read all break but it’s mid-June and I have yet to open one.

This declination in my voracious reading habits saddens me greatly. Not only because it is shifting my identity which I assured myself was permanent but because it is directly indicative of the culture. The PEW research center reported that in 2014 a quarter of Americans had not read a book all year—which includes, print, audio, and kindle books. How much are we all missing?! When we have bad days at work, why don't we ever come home and read about what it was like out on the prairie in the pioneer days? When we want a good laugh, pick up a politician’s memoir? When in need of some sound advice, consult the greatest minds to ever live? They're sitting on our bookshelves just waiting to be approached. The number of non-book-readers has nearly tripled since 1978 and I am only one who has started to add to the growing statistics.

This presents a larger problem than just the fact that we’re missing out on adventures, advice, and comic relief. Those who don’t read tend to gain information from television, the media, and other alternate sources. The fact is, your local news anchor is not an expert on politics. He’s reading a script with an agenda. If Americans took the time to read, what all would it affect: What we talk about? What we prioritize? How we vote? I contend that it would change everything—for the better. I have made it a personal goal of mine to delve into American history and the lives of our presidential candidates and read about these subjects—independent of the media—to form my own conclusions and stop allowing the press to do my thinking for me. Edmund Burke once said that “those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it”. Ever watched those comical, yet terrifying videos of an anchorman taking to the streets and asking Americans simple history questions? Haven’t their ignorant answers terrified you? They've terrified me. I can’t help but believe that this is a large reason why our country is in the position it is. We have stopped reading, stunted learning, and ceased awareness.

Life is busy. You may spend the majority of your time in an office. You may have kids that have a million places to be and you’re the designated driver. You may be a college kid who’s already forced to read twelve different text books a year and you don’t find reading pleasurable anymore.

I get you. But let’s not make the American book lover a thing of the past. Visit your local library, breathe in the scent of the old musty pages, and break in the binding once more. There’s more riding on it than you may think.