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Yesterday’s release of a major report on teacher pay dwarfed much else in the education news. I may write on that soon, if I feel I have anything to add to the conversation. But today I wanted to talk about my favorite book, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

It has been my favorite book since the 5th grade. I haven’t read it in years, in part because I am afraid of what would happen if I read it again and thought, “Well, it’s okay.” But up through college I read it multiple times each year. I read it so many times that the cover of my first copy fell off when I was in high school, and my parents bought me a replacement copy.

I’m not exactly sure why this book touched me so. Likely because I got the book as a very young adolescent, about to go through many of the things that Francie went through in the book. She was relatable.

This isn’t the only book to have touched me over the years. But it was the first. And it helped cement the love of reading, and of books themselves (I'm not sure I'll ever get a Kindle), that I have today.

I thought of this book after seeing Sarah D. Sparks’ EdWeek blog yesterday. She posted about a meta-analysis of book-distribution programs. The study, commissioned by the book distribution group Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), found that students from low-income homes who had access to print materials through book ownership or lending programs like theirs had improved reading performance. Such programs were correlated with children better knowing the basics of reading and motivated to read more and for longer periods of time. And they also correlated to improved attitudes towards reading and learning. Possible next steps for this research include a causal study.

What in that blog reminded me of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? Well, I got my first copy at my 5th grade RIF book fair. At these fairs, they would call each class to the gym, where books would be arranged by grade-level (I am imagining with a few younger and a few older books thrown in for differentiation). Each child would pick a book and take it to the check-out counter, where they would put a Reading is FUNdamental ownership sticker in the front for you to write your name on. And the book was yours.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn wasn’t my first RIF book. It's a bit hazy, but I think we had RIF fairs at least once a year (maybe twice) until we went to middle school. It was also not my last RIF book—I got The Yearling as a sixth grader (also a wonderful book).

I wasn’t the target audience for this program. I wasn’t low-income, and I didn’t realize until literally decades later how many of my classmates were. And growing up I had many books in my home and regular trips to the library. But this program made an impression on me, and I am positive I am not alone in that.

As researcher Jim Lindsay (with Learning Point Associates, who conducted this study) points out in a press release, “In the current policy environment, policymakers need more direct evidence that budgetary support for these programs is actually making an impact on children.” This study begins to provide that support. And I hope that policymakers take notice—such programs are well worth savings, not only for tangible benefits like test scores, but for intangible ones like a love of reading that can help a child soar.