Looking Back
But the weather had little effect on the cool, refreshing breeze of library air-conditioning. After finishing the last few pages, the black-haired boy, then in second grade, closed the peeling cover of his book. Scanning around, he took in a good view of the surroundings. White lights provided a luminescent view. Books began at shin level and reached almost all the way up to the low ceiling. Lower shelves, topped with potted plants and science fair projects, lay in orderly rows. The formation was broken by a small clearing with a simple round table and four low-end PCs on it. He sat down at one of them, selecting a small scarlet icon with the letters AR underneath it. Accelerated Reader, or AR, is a program designed to teach and encourage students to read. It is basically a computerized test of ten questions, twenty on rare occasions. Depending on the size and difficulty of the said book, the test can be worth anywhere between 0.5 for a preschool novel to 23 points for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the latest in the series at that time. These points stack for an entire year, allowing students to get several hundred points. Rewards include badges, waist pouches, highlighters, finger skateboards, all marked with the AR logo on it. Being a religious school, church is standard procedure, and, as was happening in the boy’s memory, twice a week the student body went there to perform a number of quirky rituals and listen to a teacher tell stories. But today was different. Being near the end of the year, it was time for the librarian to announce the really exceptional readers who have gone above and beyond to collect points. After a few short hymns, the rich tones of the grand piano died down to the thump-thump of the principal’s footsteps. She greeted us, repeating last year’s presentation, before plucking out a stack of certificates from among her thick, messy stack of notes. The school held its breath in half-anticipation, for although all know...