Ever wonder what you’ll be when you grow up? An astronaut, a doctor, maybe a famous actress or big-time politician? You might want to be a football coach or a weatherman, perhaps even a beauty queen! Whatever you imagine, it can come true with lots of hard work and determination plus a fundamental requirement that no profession is without- good reading skills! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ve heard all this before, you say! But have you heard it from the very people you may imagine you would like to be? Each one of these Alabama personalities learned early in life how important it was to read, and most spent many hours in the public library enjoying the resources available.

When actress Courtney Cox-Arquette, of Friends fame, was growing up in Mountain Brook, she remembers fondly the many trips she took with her grandmother, Dorothy Garman, to the library in the summers: "Mudgie was a love! We would go down to the Emmet O’Neal Library on hot summer days and I would check out armloads of books! We would always pick out her favorites to read there and then I would take the others home to read later. My grandmother had a great love for the library and it was one of the many things we shared together."

Fox 6 weatherman Mickey Ferguson shows us where he got his fun-loving sense of humor and love for reading- and it was all thanks to his mother and her wise use of comic books! "I grew up in Doraville, Georgia and in the summer we would stay at the lake house on Jackson Lake. My mom would load up on comic books, like The Archies and Classic Comics such as The Three Musketeers and Moby Dick. My brother and I would just devour them! We thought it was so cool to have all those comics, but of course my mom was just getting us to read anything she could and comic books worked for us!"

In sports, having a strong body is very important, but University of Alabama head football coach Mike DuBose, who grew up in Opp, Alabama, also recognizes the importance of having a strong mind: " Let me encourage each and every one of you to work hard in all your schoolwork- especially reading. Through reading you are able to see and learn about the world. It is so important to get a good basic reading background at an early stage of life. You will enjoy learning about life in such an imaginative way. I can’t emphasize the importance of reading strongly enough. Of course, one of the most available resources you have at your fingertips is the library. Use it daily."

Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville doesn’t need anyone to tell him about the importance of reading! And he’s doing his best to pass that love along to his two sons: "Reading has been an important part of my life since I was a young child. My parents made it a priority in our house and I remember many hours listening to stories that they read to me. As I grew older, I continued to read for enjoyment. Today, I carry on the family tradition with my two young sons, Tucker and Troy. I often read to them and I hope as they grow older, reading will continue to be an important part of their lives."

Birmingham business man and radio/TV personality Shelley Stewart remembers what it was like for a small black boy trying to learn how to read in the segregated south of the thirties and forties: "I only went to school for first and second grade. My teacher, Mrs. Mammie Foster, spent extra time with me and told me if I would learn to read, then I could become anything I wanted to be. There wasn’t a library for blacks until the early forties, so most of my reading material came from what the white people threw out, magazines, books and newspapers. By the age of nine I had read the Bible

front to back. Today, when I do public speaking, people assume that I am highly educated, when in fact, my education has come from the thousands of books I’ve read."

The busy schedule that goes with being Miss Alabama doesn’t stop Julie Smith from reading something fun each day. And that love of reading began when she was just a child: "When I was little, my mother used to take my sister and I to the Springville Road library and I would check out the maximum number of books allowed! I loved reading those books. As Miss Alabama, I have traveled to many different places and met hundreds of people. I’ve even been fortunate enough to meet the group 98 Degrees! But my most exciting travels by far have been through books. They can take you anywhere! And books become favorite friends, too. My favorite book from childhood is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I still enjoy reading this book as an adult."

Anyone who’s ever listened to 93.7 WDJC in the mornings knows that executive producer and co-host Mark Congleton , of the Mark and Mack Show, will not hesitate to tell you how he feels about something. The library is no exception: " I loved to visit the library. It was a source of wonderful adventure for my odd little brain. Whenever my Mom would take me I would find books about exotic adventures on faraway planets, and dreamed of sitting in the command chair of a sleek spaceship and blasting off for galaxies unknown. Back in the real world, I went to school, mowed grass, washed my dad’s pickup, cleaned the basement, scraped old paint from the front porch railings and had other not-so-glorious adventures around our house. You can see why books held so much appeal for me!" The co-host of the Mark and Mack Show and program director for WDJC, Dave Mack, has recently been reminded of a library experience from his childhood: " When I was eight years old, I checked out a library book entitled ‘Baseball Stars of 1971’. Three weeks ago, when I was cleaning some things out, I found that book. Does the library have an Amnesty Day planned for anytime soon?"

Governor Don Seigelman’s travels began long before he became governor of the State of Alabama. His travels began with the adventure books he checked out as a child: "As a child, I remember being bewildered when I entered the Mobile County Library. It was a beautiful, old building with big windows and books, which seemed to stretch from corner to corner and floor to ceiling. Then and there I decided I wanted a library of my own. The library had everything I wanted and more. As a child there was always a new adventure book to find. As I got older, I realized the library helped me find out more about the world around me. I am grateful for the books that helped me formulate my own ideas and opinions. Thanks to the library I had the world at my fingertips."

So where is the best place to be in the summer, if reading is on your "to do" list? Your local library, of course! This year’s summer reading theme is Imagination Destination-Library! So do just that- make the library your destination and let your imagination FLY! You might be our next governor, or football coach or beauty queen or…the possibilities are endless!