A column by First Lady Linda Daugaard:
 
Now that the children are finished with school and the weather has warmed up, it's really beginning to feel like summer. The family vacations, camping trips, picnics and baseball games have all begun and our calendars are filling up with our summer plans.

 
Regardless of what your plans are for the next three months, I hope you'll take the time to pick up a book this summer and encourage your children to do the same.
 
When I was a librarian, I came to realize just how crucial reading is to child development and learning. Children who read regularly tend to be better writers and speakers, and generally have higher GPAs. Unfortunately, as a nation we haven't been performing very well in reading. According to Scholastic, only one-third of students entering high school are proficient in reading, and in 2013, only 44 percent of American students who took the ACT met the Reading Benchmark.
 

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