A NEW literacy movement is afoot thanks to the growing success of the children's BLING Book Club. In response to the call that all citizens should be involved in the education of Bermuda's children, the club's grassroots approach aims to make reading a fundamental building block of a child's development and education. Engaging young people by the hundreds, its co-founders Senator Thaao Dill and Press Secretary for Premier Ewart Brown Glenn Jones, are convinced reading books dramatically improve children's chances of a vibrant future. Thaao Dill sat down with Mid-Ocean News reporter Lindsay Kelly and photographer Akil Simmons to talk books, the importance of literacy and the future of BLING.

Q: How did you come up with the concept of BLING?

A: Well, Glenn Jones and I, we used to work together on the show for about a year, which was a really awesome experience. He's such a good and positive presence. His 30th birthday was coming up and his good and positive presence was negatively affected by the impending date. So I had, traditionally on the air, through the station, celebrated my birthday with some form of community give-back project. It's the best gift you could possibly give. So we had talked about a book club of sorts or some kind of reading initiative prior to that point but we figured why not finish the thought and execute this thing in conjunction with his 30th birthday. So obviously, I'm not going to say no. We talked about it and thought we could scrape up a couple of bucks to get books for around 30 kids. We thought that would do it and Glenn would be happy with his birthday; we'd help some kids enjoy reading and that was the plan. But the overwhelming support that came (as a result of the book club launch) was totally unprecedented and surpassed every expectation we could possibly have. So now just over a year later we have more than 600 members at this stage. And, Endurance has supported us, the Bank of Bermuda has supported us and a number of other corporate and private sponsors have come on board to help us keep this initiative moving. We are talking to educators now, trying to figure how to package it properly so it not only promotes excitement about literacy and reading with the kids but also accommodates some academic requirements that they might have as well.

Q: How did you come up with the name BLING?

A: That's all Glenn. I'm terrible with names. I mean, look at my name, three vowels consecutively, so obviously I'm not to be trusted with giving things monikers but he went home, thought about it and came back with Books Lead Individuals to New Greatness. He, as much as anyone in this country, knows how to package a message where it is evocative and connectable. It's kind of like putting the aspirin in the applesauce where BLING, as a name, is the applesauce and Books Leading Individuals to New Greatness and what the club is all about is the aspirin.

Q: Why do you think the book club has had so much success in just one year?

A: I think kids are a lot better people than we give them credit for because this has not been some groundswell that has come from parents bringing their kids to the radio station saying 'get a book, come back to the car or else you aren't going to get a piece of cake tonight'. This has been something where the kids have really driven the growth of the club. Glenn and I have both spent a lot of time at different schools with different groups of children and the excitement that they have about the club, just about reading, taking it in and processing it and learning how to imagine, it can't even be measured - I couldn't be happier.

Q: What have you been doing in schools?

A: We've just been distributing the books and getting the kids excited about it. At the different parties we've had, we have been able to connect and engage with the kids on their level. It's really quite something to feel the energy around something that might be considered to be nerdy or uncool. But I'll tell you, if you package it right, it'll work.

Q: Why does BLING focus on the age group of nine to 12 year olds?

A: The only reason is because when Glenn and I started, being generally ignorant that we were, we just found the book (that we wanted to start with) and looked on the back of it and looked at what it said. But the thought was to have an age group where the book didn't frustrate the kids. We didn't want it (book choice) to frustrate any kids but we also didn't want them to feel like we were infantilising them either. So if a 14 year old wanted to join, we say 'OK, absolutely, sure come on in' and if a six year old wanted to come in we say sure to that as well, it's just more to protect the kids who wanted to be in the club from being bored. That was really it. There was really no particular reason.

Q: You've said in the past that you want to 'normalise' reading for children, could you expand on what you mean by that?

A: By normalising reading, I mean just in that having a television (playing an active role) in one's life as a matter of course and having the Internet active in one's life as a matter of course, (it can be done with) having literature and books as a basic part of your daily experience. If you can frame it that way it opens up so many different doors. Intellectually, emotionally, reading just makes you a better person because you learn how to take things in, interpret them and then express them. It's a fundamental building block of life - information and how to process that information. In my house it was always completely normal to see my parents read books. And, that was a really calculated decision on some levels, my parents wanted to let us know that this was something that you can do in your down time, it's recreational, it can be related to working and career things too but just like eating and sleeping - reading, it's just there.

Q: What was BLING's first book?

A: Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. We are now on our fourth book (James and the Giant Peach) and the one we are having the party on Saturday around.

Q: Recently Endurance has supported the club and the new website?

A: Endurance has been so helpful. A buddy of mine, Mark Nash, works at Endurance and he actually set the website up for us and offered to help us maintain it. I feel bad, Glenn and I up until recently, we've been kind of unwilling to ask for help. Not because we didn't think people couldn't help, we just didn't want to bug them. And now, with Endurance in particular, they've shown a real commitment to assisting. To be clear, the HOTT 107.5 staff have been so cool from day one with everything. But with Endurance's help, they have helped us open the club all the way up with the website in particular. That was Mark's idea and he set it up, gave us a tutorial and even now knowing how busy Glenn and I are said that he could run it, too. He's such a great guy. By the end of next month, we'll have discussion groups around the books (available on the website), polling set up to determine what the next book is going to be. (There will be a function where) kids will be able to write about the books, maybe even games, prizes and trivia about some of the material we've already read. Just to give kids something else to do and meet them where they are at. This (type of interaction) is where they are at and this is where we need to be. (Website address: www.blingbookclub.com).

Q: What do you think the future holds for BLING?

A: Just more books, more kids, more reading, more parties. It's (the bookclub's reading choices) have been placed on a couple schools' summer reading list, which is really, really encouraging to know that they academic stratosphere is cognisant of the club. Not only that but they are willing to work with us and engage us - the support has been really encouraging.

Q: Is there a reason why literacy was a topic you wanted to focus on rather than another charity?

A: There are any number of causes that fascinated Glenn and myself me but this was something we agreed on immediately because I think reading always meant a lot to us personally. Just conceptually what it can do for you, what it can do for kids. It can be quite transformative. It's a life-changing skill.

Q: What was your favourite book growing up?

A: Honestly, I really don't have a favourite. Roald Dahl was obviously very important and his whole commitment to absurdism. I love that he had no interest to be connected with reality on any level and created a whole new perspective and view of things. It lets you know exactly how free you can think and how free you can be inside your own head, inside your own life.

But now, for me, books by Zadie Smith are pretty much as important to me as any other author I've ever read. The Autograph Man, On Beauty, she's just an amazing writer. She sees a lot further than most. Considering her age, it's just amazing.

Q: You've accomplished a lot in just 25 years, where do you see yourself in ten to 20 years?

A: I really don't know, to be honest with you. In the broad, big picture my goals is just to be as helpful as possible. Demonstrating an act of love for this place and these people. Not just in an ethereal, abstract sense but in that love is an active verb - it must be otherwise it doesn't mean anything. If you truly love this place, if you love these people, you will have things to do, you have things to protect, truths to share, ideas to demonstrate and people to protect. I know that's not a specific answer but really that's the big picture.

Specific goals I have are to continue with things like BLING and to help kids understand their own worth. And - I would also like to write for Esquire.

A: What's it like being a Senator?

Lovely and strange. Like most important things are. It reminds me on a day-to-day basis how incredibly ignorant I am but how extraordinarily passionate I need to be to correct that ignorance to fill in all these blanks in my experience. I know it's not my fault that I don't know. It's a big world, it's a big island in terms of how many plates that have to be kept spinning just to keep the island on track. It's remarkable understanding the sequences of activities and relationships that lead to Bermuda being functional. It's a great opportunity, I'm so glad that I took the Premier up on the offer. (At the onset) I really had no interest (in politics). The whole suit thing, 'participating in the political process' was not something I was particularly excited about because inherently, I know this might seem strange but I'm really quite introverted.

But I made a sequence of decisions and discoveries where I can't be (introverted) in order to accomplish what I know is important.

Shy is how you feel, not how you act. So getting into this space means I had to really learn how to manage that introversion further and commit fully to the collective responsibility of connection, which has been difficult at times. It's just how I am wired.

But it's been extraordinarily rewarding. I've learned so much about people, relationships and kindness. (I've learned how to) preserve people and relationships. So initially I was like 'I don't know if I am the right person for this' but then after all I've thought privately and said publicly about the importance of preserving social justice, struggling for absolute equality and access for all people to all things, how could I turn it down and not be the kind of hypocrite that nobody wants to eat dinner with.

Being in the Senate itself has been an extraordinary experience and to have been able to hang out with Senate President Oughton, Senator Hughes, Senator Bassett, the Colonel, Senator Brown, the Opposition Senators, it's just been a wonderful space to be in because on a lot of levels these are some of the smarter people you are going to bump into. So just being in this space and bouncing ideas around with these minds is humbling but encouraging all at the same time.

The real fun stuff has been interacting with my Ministers, Minister (Nelson) Bascome and Minister (Dale) Butler and trying to provide the work for the people to present it and facilitate its presentation. That's been really something.

Working for Minister Butler in particular has been a very instructive and empowering experience because I thought I knew how to hustle. My day starts at four in the morning and goes until about nine at night. This guy puts me to bed every single day.

There is nobody that I'm aware of in this country that hustles harder and further and more honestly than Minister Butler. So to be able to stand next to him on a regular basis has been a blessing. Just to pick up things explicitly or through osmosis about how to handle folks and how to handle work and combine the two - it's something.

Q: If you had one piece of advice to give children what would it be?

A: Just to believe in the things you believe in. If you believe you like to write, then write.

If you believe you love children, spend time with them. Act on your beliefs. Trust them enough to let them out. Obviously question and deconstruct them so you can defend your beliefs and faith but trust yourself. Know your own value and worth.

Don't be scared to fail because it is inevitable in a productive life. You are going to flop hard and far and deep but it's OK. It's OK because you are meant to succeed.