New York resident and "Metropolis" magazine reporter Robert Landon walks from the third floor of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum on Nov. 9, 2012, at the opening for the media.
—National Reading Month is about more than occasionally flipping through a few pages of a book. The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum’s partnership with the Read Across America program, taking place throughout the month of March, is providing members of the East Lansing community with the resources they need to embrace reading.
Director of education at the Broad Art Museum Michelle Word has been at the head of this program.
“It’s a really great way to bring reading to the forefront of our minds in terms of how much it’s a part of our daily lives, how important it is for a rich, fulfilling life,” Word said.
The museum has different ways to engage in reading on each floor and wing as part of the Read Across America program.
On the lower level, there is a learning lounge filled with art books. This includes books for both children and adults.
In the education wing there are reading pods in the form of lily pads that are open for anyone to gather on and read. There will also be alternating activities one can take part in including making a bookmark, putting together a book and writing exercises throughout the month of March.
These programs are geared towards all ages. Though some activities are better fit for children, parents and families are encouraged to attend and participate with their children.
“Part of celebrating reading month for kids, I think, is to encourage at a young age that notion that you’re always going to learn your entire life," Word said. "You’re always going to read your entire life,”
Other institutions on MSU’s campus are celebrating reading month as well.
According to MSU Student-Athlete Support Services website, student athletes have been volunteering at various reading events in the Lansing area throughout the month.
The purpose of this volunteering is to not only promote reading, but for elementary students to see role models encouraging learning and working hard in school.
“Reading is important because kids normally see us as athletes and athletes only, and so it is cool to show them that education is just as important and we work as hard in the classroom as we do on the field,” criminal justice sophomore and MSU softball shortstop McKenzie Long.
Overall, National Reading Month aims to spread the word of the importance of reading in and out of the classroom.
“It’s a way for us to echo those initiatives and the more people who are on board the more the message gets across and the more, hopefully, youth and adults really take the time to stop and pick a book up,” Word said.
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