The past thirty years has seen a revolution in education sparked by computers and electronic media, but one thing that has not changed is that reading remains the single most essential learning skill. Early exposure to reading is one of the principal reasons why children from culturally advantaged homes excel in school from the start, and lack of such exposure is why disadvantaged children so often struggle in school. That is where Miriam Stannard Epstein, a Manchester resident, and her Books to Dreams program come in. Epstein has made it her business to put books into the hands of needy children every time she can find an opportunity to do so.

Now entering its ninth year, Books to Dreams has given more than 175,000 books to children, and the group distributed more than 28,000 children's books last year alone. Working with donated books and carefully refurbishing the volumes, the program sends printed material into homes that often lack such resources. Locally, students at Nathan Hale, Robertson, Verplanck, Waddell and Washington Schools and Manchester Head Start have received in the past two years more than 4,000 free books and over 700 "Reading Buddies," scrubbed and refreshed stuffed animals, with whom the children could share their joy of reading. Epstein's books have been spread out to the four comers of Connecticut, with an emphasis on poorer towns and cities where children are most in need of enrichment and encouragement.

Testimonials to the power of Books to Dreams have flown in. A letter earlier this year from Colleen Laflamme, Family Social Worker at the Salvation Army's Marshall House in Hartford will illustrate. Laflamme writes "Recently we

received a generous donation of books and `Reading Buddies', and the children had a great time looking through and picking `just the right one'. It has been a pleasure to see the children occupied by a book instead of the television." Those who have been close to Books to Dreams understand its power. Building their own home "mini-libraries," the youngsters share their enthusiasm for reading, and it rubs off on the whole family. The program builds a stronger connection between school and home, and literacy skills taught in school are reinforced at home. When parents take the time to read to their children, it produces higher achievement and demonstrates the old axiom that parents are the first and most important teachers of their own children.

Books to Dreams has had a lot of support. More than 350 individuals and families have contributed to the program along with over fifty businesses, thirty-five religious organizations, sixteen libraries, ten scout troops, forty schools, and over thirty civic organizations.

Little wonder that Miriam Stannard Epstein's nonprofit organization has won widespread acclaim for its effort to infuse the love of reading in all children.