It’s a skill that most of us don’t give a lot of thought to. But unlike a great many things all of us are engaged in, reading is an essential skill that we cannot do without.

If you’re able to read, and, hopefully, comprehend, this opinion, then you’ve got a skill that some people may never learn. Possessing the ability to read is something many of us likely take for granted. It’s a skill we learned years ago as children back in school, when the scrapes on our knees we got from recess meant more than the lessons we were taught on the chalkboard.

But there’s a lifelong value in learning to read, particularly at a young age, that should not be overlooked, even in this day and age when some youngsters can’t write cursive or tell what time it is by looking at the face of an analog clock.

Reading can take you on an adventure with swashbuckling pirates around the world, or with aliens to other planets. It can help you learn new languages, teach you all you need to know about insects, help you discover new revelations about yourself or how to better understand love and building relationships with others. It can even help you read newspaper articles every day so that you can be an informed and engaged member of our community, like you, dear reader.

Reading is the key needed to unlock so much information in our world, and it’s an exceptional way to learn and enjoy all sorts of different topics simply with the power of one’s brain and imagination. And it’s true that learning to read at an early age is becoming more of a focus in Michigan.

Some years ago, only 35% of fourth-grade Michigan students performed at or above proficient levels on the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test, which is administered every two years. That’s was an increase of 1% from the previous year, according to the Michigan Department of Education’s Annual Review. Those numbers are not good enough, not nearly.

That’s why it’s so important we support summer reading programs held by local places like the Peter White Public Library in Marquette, the Negaunee Public Library in Negaunee, the Ishpeming Carnegie Library farther west and the many other great libraries throughout our area and state. It’s also why we at The Mining Journal are proud to partner with an organization like 8-18 Media, which engages area children in different projects that focus on improving their communication skills, like writing weekly columns that appear in The Mining Journal’s Morning, U.P. section.

Yes, reading is taught in schools but a lot of it starts at home and that means parents need to engage their children in reading, especially during the summer when the school textbooks are shelved to collect dust.

Libraries are outstanding resources for young readers and programs such as 8-18 Media help hone those communication skills we could all seek to improve. Reading and writing all flow together to build good communicators and that’s something this increasingly interconnected world could use more of.