It is almost time to hit the library for our bi-weekly journey into the home of borrowable books. I love it there. I can browse for hours, smelling the aroma of pages new and old, reading titles, reading the inside of book covers, watching others... it is an amazing hour out of my week.

But why read?

I was asked that recently. "Why in the age of television, movies, the Internet's multi-media and quick doeses of information, read something that will take hours to finish and may or may not be good? The answer is a simple one, and any thrill seeker can tell you the same thing. The call to adventure! Through books fiction, non-fiction, picture, biographical...any genre, a world that you may never experience is ready to explore.

Now I know that the whole "expand your horizons" thing is tried and true. Everyone says..."It will broaden your horizons!" What does that mean? It is esoteric at best, and at worst potentially inane to people who live in an age where information is as disposable as paper cups from McDonald's. The truth is, we all broaden our horizons just by living, but by reading, we open ourselves up to the best and worst of ideas, designs, places and people. As human beings we thrive on new experiences, but experience has to be fought for, earned, maybe even suffered for. (Ask me about my first reading of LesMiserables!) In the end, we gain something more valuable from reading than just a story in our heads.

What do we learn? Everything. Characters open our eyes to feelings we may have closed off ourselves. Plot lines remind us of the commonality we all have. Setting bring us to places from our own backyard to exotic destinations we yearn to see. New words fill our heads with the ability to communicate something new to others. In short, we become better people by reading.

So don't be afraid of picking up a book that has more pages than there are houses on your street. If big words aren't your thing read graphic novels. I promise it will be rewarding!

And if you are a writer - tell your stories. Don't just think about them, plan them, tell others about them - TELL THEM! It is only through story that we see how alike we all really are.