Shear dedication demonstrated at 2nd General Session

At the Tuesday morning 2nd General Session of IRA's 51st Annual Convention, Rueben Martinez treated the conferees to a demonstration of his passionate commitment to promoting reading. He also treated them to a demonstration of his first career, barbering, tending to IRA President Richard Allington's hair as they discussed ways to promote reading among people in general and Latinos in particular.

Martinez, who won a prestigious MacArthur fellowship for his reading advocacy efforts, was originally a barber. He always kept books in his shop for patrons to read. Eventually he started selling books, and today is one of the largest dealers of Spanish-language books in the United States.

Book festivals and advocacy with policymakers are among the means Martinez uses to promote reading, and he is always striving to put books in young people’s hands. Martinez said sometimes he gives books away to young kids whose families can't afford all the books they'd like to have. "Any time I have the opportunity to give a book away, I will," Martinez said. "I'm getting richer here, in the heart, where it counts."

"We only go through this life once," Martinez said. "So why not make a difference?"