Message from the Honourable Joyce Fairbairn

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to use and enjoy this year's edition of the Read Up On It kit. The suggestions contained within this booklet will provide you with many hours of memorable and exciting reading.

Through the theme of Science Fiction and Fantasy, the selections will open up new worlds and unique points of view for readers of all ages. We expand our horizons by gaining new insights through knowledge and experiences previously unknown to us. These factors can combine to create a love of reading that will remain with us throughout our lives.

The literacy skills we rely upon as adults usually develop at an early age. These skills are learned, sometimes with difficulty, and used daily in all that we do. Like anything else in our lives, if we find pleasure in an act we will pursue it with zeal and delight. So it is with reading.

I congratulate the National Library of Canada for giving us this valuable resource. I encourage Canadians, young and not so young, to take the time to explore this wonderful kit that was produced with so much hard work and thoughtfulness.

Joyce Fairbairn