Forgive, forget and read

An amazing number of treasures are uncovered each spring, as students clean out backpacks, desks and clothes drawers to mark the end of the school year.

Last fall, the three major public library systems in New York City offered a single day of unconditional amnesty to everyone age 17 and under who had late fees. What a benefit, for students whose accounts had been blocked because they hadn’t paid the fees.

I was hoping other library systems might offer a similar program of unconditional amnesty to mark the end of the school year. Reading lists will be coming home soon, and it would be wonderful to forgive and forget, so students could dig into books this summer.