Children’s literacy in the United States has stalled, but the solution may be simpler than we think. Veteran educator Kristen Brooks explains why access, choice, and joy are essential to helping kids build strong reading habits that last a lifetime.
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2 in 3 fourth graders are not reading at a “Proficient” level — a troubling statistic that has remained largely unchanged for more than three decades.¹
As debates swirl around curriculum and instruction, veteran educator and education technology expert Kristen Brooks points to a more fundamental issue: access. “Access to books is the main thing that we need to keep trending,” she emphasized.
Access beyond the school day
Access is not just what happens inside the classroom. It means children can reach a book that interests them, at their level, whenever curiosity strikes. “Access means all the time, 24 hours a day,” shared Brooks, who spent much of her 30-year career teaching in Title I schools. “It means having something to read at home, at a grandparent’s house, wherever you are.”
Early on, Brooks realized that her own childhood — spent surrounded by books and in libraries — was not the norm for many of her students. Families juggling work, caregiving, and basic needs often don’t have the time or resources to build home libraries. Yet decades of research show that children with greater access to books develop stronger literacy skills over time.²
Brooks’ search for a way to broaden access without adding financial or logistical burden led her to Epic, a digital reading platform offering more than 40,000 high-quality, kid-friendly books. What began as a practical solution — eliminating teaching time lost traveling to and from the school library — quickly became something bigger: a way to level the playing field.
Centering choice, from topic to format
“Epic made it possible for every child to have books,” Brooks shared. “Not one or two books in a backpack, but real choice.” Choice is a powerful motivator. When children are allowed to read what genuinely interests them — whether it’s fantasy, graphic novels, or 200 books about lizards — they read more. And when they read more, their confidence and skills grow.
Equally important is expanding how we define reading itself. Brooks is a strong advocate for audiobooks and read-aloud features, especially for younger readers and reluctant readers. “If you’ve listened to a book, you’ve still read the book,” she said. “Listening activates imagination.”
This broader view of literacy also challenges common assumptions about screen time. Rather than treating all screen use as harmful, Brooks encourages families and educators to focus on how screens are used. Reading — whether independently or together as a family — can be one of the most meaningful uses of technology.
Access unlocks a love of reading
Epic’s approach reflects that philosophy. Jackson Ding, general manager at Epic, explained: “Epic plays an essential role in helping children develop stronger reading habits by providing access to a vast library of engaging, high-quality books that personalize reading and meet children where they are — at home, at school, and everywhere in between.”
For Brooks, access is about more than moving the needle on literacy — it’s about unlocking joy. When children can explore stories that spark their curiosity, in formats that fit their lives, reading stops feeling like an assignment and starts feeling like play. And when reading feels like play, kids keep coming back for more.
To learn more, visit www.getepic.com
Citations
¹U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), various years, 1992-2024 Reading Assessments.
²Joanna Sikora, M.D.R. Evans, Jonathan Kelley. Scholarly culture: How books in adolescence enhance adult literacy, numeracy and technology skills in 31 societies. Social Science Research. Volume 77, 2019, Pages 1-15, ISSN 0049-089X. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X18300607
