A Reader’s Manifesto

Draft Version - June/July 2025

Act of Reading:  I am a reader. 

• Accountable to none, I choose to read for many reasons, among them pleasure, relaxation, personal development, learning, improving physical and mental health, developing emotional intelligence, broadening empathy, challenging my thinking, or inspiring imagination and joy.
• I choose to invest meaningfully in what I read, meeting the writer(s) where they are, respecting their contexts and perspectives .
• I choose to read broadly and deeply, seeking ever to meet new stories and ideas
• I choose to read books, poems, graphic works, nonfiction, journalism, speeches, art—in short, with any form where humans create symbols for interpretation.
• I choose to make my reading experiences my own, building ideas between them.

Act of Engagement:  I am a reader. 

• As important as my reading is to me, I understand my ideas from reading hold value for others.
• I choose to find ways to share my ideas and reading experiences where I can. 
  • Reading to others or exchanging books with others
  • Speaking and writing to others, in public or private, about my thinking and reading
  • Speaking or writing in response to an author, in public or private, about what I’ve read
  • Building or joining community groups who read together
• I choose to engage my communities with an open-mind and heart, creating healthy dialogue, responding to others with the same respect and investment I make in reading.

Act of Education:  I am a reader. 

• Because engaging with others is meaningful, I cultivate communities necessary for this engagement.
• I choose to engage others in discussions about their reading, encouraging and motivating them to share my commitment to its many purposes.
• I choose to model my discussions by grounding them in what I’ve read, motivating others to do the same. 
• I choose to broaden and deepen conversations, postponing conclusions if I have not personally read enough to sustain them.
• I choose to return to conversations that demand more consideration. 
• I choose to state my principles of reading openly, to hold meaningful conversations with others who share my aspirations. While I will not exclude others, I will make it clear that our most meaningful exchanges stem from shared commitment to reading.
• I choose to make the “measure of reading”—its quality, quantity, and validity—an open and valuable topic for conversation. 

Act of Civics:  I am a reader. 

• Since democratic communities depend upon thoughtful readers, I work to support spaces and opportunities for their reading.
• I will promote and advocate for texts across my community which embrace global, diverse, controversial, and locally traditional values.
• I will encourage my community to discover a broad variety of texts to read deeply. 
• I will advocate for open and affordable access to all texts for all age-appropriate readers, supporting access for those with diverse needs.
• I will discover and support local and non-local writers in making their works available to all.
• I will support strong and ethical literacy education in my community wherever it occurs.
• I will defend the “Right to Read” as a fundamental value, embracing reading as avowed in this manifesto.