“Reading is a foundation for everything that happens from now on,” Dallas County Schools superintendent of education Don Willingham said in a Times-Journal article Thursday. “If they learn to read now, and learn to like to read now, they are more likely to read forever.”

We surely hope so. Other than for the obvious, self-serving reasons, we want everyone to read, especially newspapers. Reading is one of the basic elements of success in school, success in work and success in life.

This week, the Selma-Dallas County Public Library, in conjunction with every private school and school system within the county, kicked off their annual “Welcome to the Library” program, aimed at giving each first grader in the county a library card.

In addition to providing students a card, the library provided these children — our future — with the car keys to their future. What they want to know, and want to learn, is directly in front of them and now, at their fingertips.

In hosting this program, along with the expansive summer reading program, the Selma-Dallas County Public Library, once again, proved how valuable it is to this community.

For years, we wrote about how the library is one of our community’s crown jewels and the impact it has on all aspects of the community.

Think about the economic impact it has, just in bringing people from throughout the Black Belt to Selma for their events or those who just stop by for a quiet tour of the stacks.

Over the next few days and weeks, hundreds of school children — all first graders — will make their way through the library and receive their library card with excitement. We only hope that love for learning and enthusiasm for reading continues throughout their lives.

We cannot thank those at the library — and those at the schools — for making this tremendous program and annual success.