Tucked away in every good library is a cozy nook where a reader can find solitude and the mind can drift to places of adventure and wonder without ever leaving the security of the familiar.

For Laurie Moser, that comfort came near the spiral staircase at the library in her native Syracuse, N.Y. It was there that she learned to love books.

It was a seed planted by watching her parents as they read and by embracing the books they bought her.

It was nurtured listening to her grandmother's words when read to, even if it was Longfellow's "Wreck of the Hesperus."

The poem's rhythmic sway memorized years before in school by her grandmother was then read in a manner still remembered by Laurie as an adult.

The importance of reading became evident while Laurie advanced her education in the teaching profession.

Her personal relationship with books grew when raising her own children and making sure they appreciated what is on unknown pages.

The value of books in a youngster's life is now a passion for Laurie, who is the director of READ! 365, a year-long campaign to promote early literacy. The message is: Read every day to the children in your world.

To say Laurie can make a person wonder about literacy is like saying the Rev. Dr. Billy Graham hints at God's importance.

There's no sidestepping. She ap-proaches READ with the same enthusiasm she showed in 1993 when co-founding the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Pittsburgh.

A two-time cancer survivor, Laurie took a walk in the park with 3,000 fellow survivors and friends and helped the race grow over the years into an event with 38,000 participants.

As it took on a life of its own, Laurie left the Race for the Cure and put more time into her volunteering at Beginning With Books. In 1999 she started Storywalk, a reading event in Frick Park that attracted 6,000 people this year.

A year ago, she became director of READ. Laurie will be the first to say that the success of READ involves many more people than just herself. Her strength is in igniting the thought of making a difference in literacy: through volunteerism, sponsorship, book drives and, most importantly, by reading to a child.

Many daycare centers, doctor's waiting rooms and preschools are in need of books and even people with materials or skills to build bookcases. Storytimes at preschools and after-school programs, she also points out, could always use another person to read to those too young to sound out written words just yet.

Monetary donations are always welcomed. Responding to book drives like the one at Gateway Newspapers over the next four weeks is another way.

Everyone can do something. If they can't volunteer, give money or books, everyone Laurie says, can take time to read to a child.

Read 365 days a year for and with a child.

Simple concept with complex effects.

Some people may be skeptical about the benefits of reading to an infant. Not Laurie. She rattles off statistics about the 30 million words heard by the age of 3 or a possible vocabulary of 20,000 words by 6.

Sending a child to kindergarten unfamiliar with books is like sending him with batteries not included, Laurie explains. The brain's circuitry is unprepared and valuable time learning is instead spent hoping to catch up.

A simple solution, she advises, is to get involved in literacy of not just your children, but the community's children. READ's simple premise is to coordinate the many literacy advocates out there and give them a public voice. "We don't want to start new, we support those programs that already exist. We're the PR voice."

The necessity of reading to and with a child is important no matter the gender, race or income class.

The benefits reaped from familiarity with books and reading can be economic, psychological and emotionally positive.

Not lost on the educator-turned-administrator, however, is the fact that reading is just plain fun.