09/14/2026
Humanities councils already have solutions for the literacy crisis.
It’s back-to-school month, a transition marked in recent years (and especially this year) by a wave of reporting around “the end of reading,” and declining literacy across the board—from elementary grades to high school to college.
And yet, alongside this negative trend, there are hopeful stories as well. As Peter Schmidt pointed out in The New York Times last month, groups dedicated to reading together and discussing books together, in person, are on the rise.
The most hopeful story to me is this: Humanities councils already know how to get preschoolers, kids, teenagers, and adults from every background excited about reading and interpreting literature.
Follow the link below to see examples of incredible programs from Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, PA Humanities, South Dakota Humanities Council, Mississippi Humanities Council, Maine Humanities Council, Humanities Texas, and many more.
Humanities councils already know how to get preschoolers, kids, teenagers, and adults from every background excited about reading and interpreting literature.
