“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
— Dr. Seuss’s "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!”

We all know the answer to “Why do we read?” is endless and thrillingly individual. For some it’s pleasure, for others educational. Some want escape, and some want anything but—they want to know more about a particular subject. But whether it’s distraction or immersion we crave, the result is always the same, no matter who we are: when we read, we know more. More about the world, about what others are thinking, about what we’re thinking, about where we want to go and be and do …

That’s why the National Reading Campaign’s—“What did you read today?”—is so important. It was created amid growing evidence that reading is becoming a less common activity in Canada, as technology, entertainment, and the frantic pace of our lives shove it down the list of things to do. This is happening despite one constant: we need to know more, not less. Knowledge is still the key to being powerful, engaged, and purposeful. We need to read.

Over the coming months, the National Reading Campaign will be asking Canadians through advertising and events and on their website what they are reading today. It could be anything: a memoir, a graphic novel, the newspaper, a picture book with your kids, an interesting fact on a cool website. It all matters, and the more responses people submit, the more the project can gain momentum and impact.

To help celebrate the launch of “What did you read today?" pop open your Twitter account to enter a great contest. Tweet what you’re reading today to @readingcampaign with the hashtag #whatdidyoureadtoday? for a chance to win one of ten KoboTM eReaders pre-loaded with a selection of great eBooks!

There is also a really fun companion kids’ contest, where your kids could win $1000 in new books for their library. You can download the contest kit that allows classrooms and libraries to create a beautiful wall or space filled with what their student readers are reading. When the wall is ready, tweet a picture of it to @readingcampaign with #whatdidyoureadtoday? to enter the contest.