State Representative Elizabeth Coulson READS!

State Representative Elizabeth Coulson is seen here reading one of her favorite books, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling.

Representative Coulson says, "My Aunt Oline was a public librarian who worked with children and adults, and her husband was a state senator. We would help my uncle with tasks when he ran for office, and we would always visit Aunt Oline's library as well. We were encouraged by our aunt to be good readers, and I would take out 20 books at a time, reading them with a flashlight under the covers when I was supposed to be asleep!"

She goes on to say, "My grandmother would buy us all the Caldecott award books, and one of my favorite books is still Make Way for Ducklings. Other favorites were The Secret Garden, Little Women, all the Anne of Green Gables books, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and mysteries, particularly Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey twins, which I now read to my own nieces. To this day I love libraries; they have high quality books, a great variety, and you don't have to buy them!

Every summer my dad encouraged us to have fun and to also read a book a week and give him a book report. That is the inspiration for my Summer Reading Club for students K-8 to read one book a week (8 books) during summer vacation. Approximately 300 children participated last summer, and we're thinking of expanding it to high school.

Because of my family's encouragement, I am now a voracious reader and library user!"