As part of our Reach a Reader edition celebrating Family Literacy Week, we asked Williams Lake mayor and council various questions on how their lives have been affected by literacy. Here are the questions, followed by their responses:
1.) Why is reading important? How essential do you think the ability to read is in your elected position? Do you have any reading challenges that you would like to share? What advice would you give to anyone who wants to improve their reading?
2.) What was one of your favourite books when you were young?
3.) Have you recently read to a child? What book (title, author)? What was the reaction (yours and the child’s)?
Mayor Walt Cobb
1.) There is absolutely no way this job could be performed without the ability to not only read but comprehend and decipher the content.
2.) It could be age but I do not recall any favourite book when I was a child, but read many favourites to my children before bedtime every night. Usually they would just pick a different one from the pile and often tried to con me into reading two or three.
3.) There are too many other things to do when the grandchildren are over and they are at the age that grandpa reading to them is not cool.
Councillor Scott Nelson
1.) Reading is very important; it opens an individual’s opportunity to learn and understand the issues. Learning how to read makes someone’s life better and easier. There are so many opportunities in Williams Lake to enhance ones reading abilities. Reading is a lifelong journey which you never stop learning.
2.) One of my favourite books was by Dr Seuss. Always a great fun read and a great learning opportunity.
3.) I love reading and often read aloud to family members on a subject. It allows for open discussion on what you’re reading, and sometimes when you read something it may mean something different to someone else. This is why the more you read the more knowledge you acquire, and the more open, objective and understanding you become. Reading is a very important life skill.
Williams Lake is blessed to have so many groups and individuals that are dedicated to assisting people to improve their literacy skills. If there’s one thing reading does, that’s help create a better quality of life for an individual.
Councillor Ivan Bonnell
1.) Knowledge is acquired through reading. As an elected official, a vast majority of time on the job per week will be spent on reading. It will come in both printed material and electronic form. One area that can be challenging is the use of acronyms or industry specific jargon contained in some types of reports. It is like a language unto itself. Anyone who would like to improve their reading can do so by simply reading more. Start with topics you like then venture into fields where you have not been before. The library has many books on a wide range of topics that one can easily access. Our community is fortunate to have a group of dedicated volunteers at the CCPL available to help people improve their reading.
2.) My leisure reading favourites are almost always fiction novels, mysteries, suspense or action thrillers. Occasionally I will pick up an autobiography or a biography on a person of interest. History was my favourite topic as a youth and it remains so today.
3.) All the family was here for Christmas, including two granddaughters who are three years old. We read a couple of stories together as we always do. They are read to a lot at home so their levels of comprehension are impressive. Equally amazing is their ability to use the right apps on cellphones to look at photos and videos. They will be printing legibly before they are four years old as a result of reading.
Councillor Craig Smith
1.) Reading is important to me in all aspects of my life from my professional, keeping up with technology to personal, my volunteer work and hobbies. It is essential as an elected official in order to understand all aspects of any decision that has to be made.
2) Growing up I remember being a voracious reader. My favourite books were science fiction/fantasy and mysteries such as the Hobbit series, Dune, John Carter of Mars and of course The Hardy Boys.
3.) I remember reading to my kids when they were younger and their favourite stories were by Dr Seuss. I have read to my granddaughter but not as much as I would like ...something I’m going to change this year.
Councillor Sue Zacharias
1.) Reading has been a lifelong hobby and love for me. Reading and understanding information given to me as a city councillor is important to me in order to make a good decision on an issue. The more a person reads, the better their ability. Get help if you want to become a better reader.
2.) I loved reading anything by Irving Stone and I love biographies, stories of true people.
3.) Yes, I recently read The Darkest Dark to a child, by astronaut Chris Hadfield. Delightful!
Councillor Jason Ryll
1.) The ability to read is vitally important for growth and success in today’s world. It allows us to communicate with each other around the world. It helps us convey what we’re feeling, experiencing, learning and need to learn. 1.) In my position, it allows me to research topics that are important to the community as a whole, and enables me to communicate that to everyone.
The best advice I could ever give someone who wants to improve their reading would be to practice, practice, practice.
2.) One of my favourite books when I was a teenager was The Hobbit.
I was very much into that mystical world of dragons, warriors and dwarves.
I read most of the Dragonlance series of books after they became my favourite characters.
I loved the ability books have to allow us to escape to another world.
3.) It’s been quite some time since I’ve read to a child, however, as a father it was one of my favourite things to look forward to at bedtime. Knowing that the stories I’d read would help my children’s imagination and creativity blossom was always an incentive to read more to them.