According to the Institute of Education Science, Mississippi’s reading test scores are the second lowest in the nation, followed only by the District of Columbia.
These test scores can be attributed to the rate of illiteracy in Mississippi.
According to Devon Brenner, Professor and head of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education, literacy is more complex a topic than just not being able to read.
“The rate of true, total illiteracy is probably relatively low,” Brenner said. “Many people are ‘functionally literate’ in that they can decode and comprehend basic texts, the texts they need to function at a basic level in society.”
However, in the 21st century, literacy is much more complex than just being able to read and write.
Brenner said in order to be fully literate in the 21st century, students and adults must be able to evaluate a website, comprehend a users’ manual or evaluate a political argument.
According to Deborah Lee, professor/coordinator of Library Instructional Services and Corporate and Statical Research Center, said Starkville and Mississippi State University are trying to fix this problem.
Kyle Turner, senior special education major, said programs like these are important for the future of their education and career.
“Whether we realize it or not, most of the information that we intake is through reading. Without programs to promote literacy, students whole educational and working careers can suffer,” Turner said.
One way MSU is encouraging students to read is through the Maroon Edition.
The Maroon Edition is a shared reading experience targeted toward incoming freshmen at MSU.
Lee said the Maroon Edition fosters an environment of learning and community on campus and encourages students to analyze and ask questions about what they are learning.
“The idea was to have a common event that really brought freshmen into university life and introduced them not just to a book but to a way of thinking about the information that they read, analyzing what they read, asking the questions that we expect a college educated student to ask of the information that they read and to create a climate on campus that fosters this intellectual discovery,” he said.
Lee also said the city of Starkville has a very similar program called Starkville Reads.
“Starkville Reads is an exciting opportunity to do in the community a common-reading book, and they do several throughout the semester,”  he said. “They have programs that bring authors into the community and also programing in the school system.”