I opened Lili's Little Free Library in Waterbury because reading has helped me overcome some of my disabilities and I wanted to share those benefits of reading with our community. I was born in Tucson, AZ in 2001, weighing only 2lbs 12ozs. At around 10 months of age, I was diagnosed with plagiocephaly, static encephalopathy and hearing loss. My mom says that my first few years were filled with doc
tor visits and lots of therapy sessions, but now I am overcoming my disabilities. When I was in second grade, my first DRA test revealed that I was reading at a first graders level. By the time they told us, I had about two months to improve my reading (before the next DRA test), if I didn’t, I would have to go to summer school. I didn’t want to go to summer school so I began reading a lot of books. At that time, my mom says, they were about rocks, the solar system, the weather, geography, and some children’s books (I really don’t remember, I was too little). I would try to read one paragraph on my own and then my mom would coach me to read another. I read 15 minutes twice a day and at least one bedtime story every night. Some nights, I wanted to read more bedtime stories and then some days I wanted to read more than 15 minutes at a time. Before I knew it, I was reading so much that we would run out of books. In May I was given the final DRA exam of the school year and my score jumped up about 14 points. I was now reading at a third graders level, became the schools biggest success story and didn't have to go to summer school that year! I have continued my love of reading and have read 100's of books since then. I have realized the importance and educational value of reading and hope to encourage others to read.
