Background and Mission Statement
Approximately 20 years ago, the International Reading Association commissioned the Minnesota Academy of Reading (MAR) as a Special Interest Council, giving the organization this charge:

The purpose of this council shall be to (1) provide an opportunity for members to actively engage in the process of sharing and testing professional ideas; (2) engage in service functions of instruction, consultation, and evaluation.

Currently MAR serves as one of the local area councils supporting the Minnesota Reading Association.

The purpose of the Minnesota Academy of Reading is to bring various groups of reading stakeholders together to discuss and respond to reading practices/policies in Minnesota.

• We provide opportunities for reading stakeholders to share, analyze, and evaluate reading policies and practices. We gather groups of reading stakeholders together to impact the licensure requirements for reading professionals in Minnesota. Rather than reacting to policies, this group desires to have a visionary role in the direction of future policies.
• We provide opportunities for reading stakeholders to celebrate the work of their colleagues. Each spring, we host a banquet honoring a Minnesota reading professional who has made significant contributions to reading locally and nationally, including Barbara Taylor (2005), Michael Graves (2006), Jay Samuels (2007) and Alton Greenfield (2008), Maureen Prenn (2010), Deborah Dillon (2012), Gail Jordan (2014), and Rick Beach (2016),  Cindy Whaley (2017) and Debra Peterson (2020), Lori Helman (2022).
  

Constituents
Our members are K-12 teachers and higher education professors, mostly the latter, with extensive research, teaching, and publication experience. However, this is an inclusive group, open to any interested reading professional.

Becoming a Member of the Minnesota Academy of Reading

To become a member of the Minnesota Academy of Reading, first join the Minnesota Reading Association and then identify MAR as your local council. 

For more information, contact:

Joan Sax Bendix at mailto:jbendix@winona.edu

Lisa Krall at lisa.krall@bemidjistate.edu 

Upcoming Literacy Events:

Northwoods Literacy Conference July 21-22, 2025