Legacy of Baltimore Reads will live on

In 1988, Ronald Reagan was president and Kurt L. Schmoke was mayor of Baltimore. Mayor Schmoke had a vision for Baltimore as “The City that Reads,” and from that vision Baltimore Reads was born (“Funding woes close Baltimore Reads,” May 2).

Over its 26-year history, Baltimore Reads engaged in a number of literacy services for the city, including providing a book bank for families and schools and offering classes for youth and adults. In the last several years, Baltimore Reads has given away hundreds of thousands of books and helped thousands of Baltimore residents learn to read, speak English and earn their high school diplomas by passing the GED exam.

While the closing of Baltimore Reads after 26 years is truly a sad event, its legacy will live on. It lives in the Maryland Book Bank that continues to serve the city and in the lives of students who can now read. Their economic situation and their health is likely to be better because of the skills they learned, and their children and grandchildren will have the benefit of a parent who can read them a story.

The Baltimore Reads legacy will live on in the immigrants who have come here for a better life and now can strive for it with improved English skills and in the students who earned their high school diplomas and who can exemplify the importance of education for their children and grandchildren.

While we mourn the passing of a 26-yearold institution, let us commit to continuing its legacy. Those who were students can continue the legacy by not giving up on their dreams and persisting in their education. And we who have taught and contributed can continue to support other literacy education efforts here in Baltimore and beyond.

Cynthia Macleay Campbell, Columbia The writer is literacy services director of Baltimore Reads Inc.