Floating around North Attleboro right now are about 20 blank pieces of paper and notebook covers with my autograph and a simple message: "Keep reading."

My autograph, of course, is useless, but, I hope, not the message I left with fourth-graders at the Community School, an attentive, intelligent group taught by the ever upbeat Alice Paulhus.

As it has for several years now, the school invited me to read a book to the class during its annual Community Readers Week. On the beautiful spring day I visited last week, two North Attleboro selectmen, Paul Belham and Michael Thompson, read as did Town Treasurer/Tax Collector Diane Asanza. Sun Chronicle Publisher Oreste D'Arconte and Local News Editor Larry Kessler made appearances during the week, as did a host of teachers and town officials.

We were all recruited by Tara Read, a parent who is as enthusiastic in her duties as she is aptly named for this assignment. It's hard to say no to Tara, mostly because tasks like this - at the Community School and other schools that invite Sun Chronicle columnists for similar programs - are pure joy compared to the day-to-day grind we all face at our jobs. Mrs. Paulhus' class was silent and respectful as I read a picture book called "Tsunami!" The students exhibited strong comprehension of an old tale of how an elder saves his Japanese village from a tidal wave.

It was heartening to see nearly all the students' hands shoot up when Mrs. Paulhus asked if they read our newspaper. It was also encouraging when the kids said that THEY actually read the paper, not just their parents. They might just be reading the comics or sports, but that's OK. Isn't that how we baby boomers got our first taste of daily journalism? But what was most impressive was the tsunami of questions about The Sun Chronicle the class fired at me. Many spoke with pride about their connections to the newspaper and said that they or a relative had made some sort of appearance in print recently, either in a photo or being identified in a story. They understood our role as a community newspaper, focused on bringing news about North Attleboro and surrounding communities to the approximately 50,000 people who read us in print or online each day.

After a round of applause, a young lady named Mackenzie touched off a flood of another kind when she asked me to sign my autograph. Soon, everyone in the class formed a line - apparently Mrs. Paulhus has her class well trained - and I attached my John Hancock to whatever they thrust in front of me, something I'm not all accustomed to.

While the signature itself may look like chicken scratchings, I hope my message gets through: Keep reading. And not just The Sun Chronicle. If there's anything we can do to assure an active and informed citizenry, it is to not only read well but to enjoy reading all kinds of things. It's a lesson that seems to be absorbed at the Community School.

And don't worry, Tara, I'll be glad to come back next year.

MIKE KIRBY is editor of The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0344 or at mkirby@thesunchronicle.com.