4-year-old Daliyah Marie Arana has read more books than many adults–she’s read over 1,000 books. It’s like she learned to read in the womb or something. Actually, that’s what her mom, Haleema Arana, told The Washington Post recently. Arana believes that when Daliyah was a baby, she was learning to read when she would hear her older brother reading aloud in their Georgia home. By age 2, she recognized words.
This is why Daliyah got the best gift of all yesterday: She was the “librarian for the day” at the world’s largest library. The Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, tweeted photos of herself and Daliyah walking around the Library of Congress. Hayden herself is the first woman and first African-American to run the library.
It was fun to have 4-year-old Daliyah Marie Arana of Gainesville, GA as “Librarian For The Day.” She’s already read more than a 1,000 books. pic.twitter.com/MQfwlUrakO
— Carla Hayden (@LibnOfCongress) January 11, 2017
Watch Daliyah read at just 2 years old:
In an interview with the Gainesville Times, Arana said her daughter began reading when she was 2 years old–which is why Arana had her participate in Georgia’s 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program. The program is exactly what it sounds like, as the children involved are encouraged to read 1,000 books before their first day of kindergarten. Daliyah, however, finished reading 1,000 books before her first day of preschool.
Naturally, this is why Daliyah loved her visit at the Library of Congress, so much that her mom told The Washington Post how it is her “most favorite, favorite, favorite library in the whole wide world.”
It’s no surprise that Deliyah has a library card of her own so she can check out books herself–the 4-year-old wants other kids to enjoy reading just as much as she does. So, what’s her reading goal? She told local news station CBS46 that she hopes to “read 100,000” books. And you know what? I’m pretty sure she will.