Proud to be from Pittsburgh: Reading to children

PITTSBURGH — Since 1992, a man has been traveling from school to school in the Pittsburgh area reading to children. Tuesday, he was honored by the Pittsburgh City Council for his volunteer service.

Mike Nichols has been reading to the children of Pittsburgh for more than 20 years.

"The council of the city of Pittsburgh does hereby commend, recognize and congratulate Mr. Nichols on more than 20 years of service to the people of Pittsburgh, and declares July 12, 2016 to be Mike Nichols Day in the city of Pittsburgh," was read at the ceremony earlier this week.

Though the children Nichols reads to through the years have changed, his stories haven’t.

"We have a good time. They want to hear the same stories over and over again, and they just love it," Nichols said.

Even though Nichols was honored with a special day, what he really wants is more people to join his efforts.

“If it only takes about five or 10 minutes of your time. That 10 minutes can change a kid's life. You can make that kid a better reader when you read to them,” he said.

Some of the children he first read to have long since graduated and are now in their 30s, but they haven’t forgotten his face or voice.

"It's very important that they see your face, because you never know, one day, they might say, 'You read to me.” I get that every day," Nichols said.

Nichols said he has no intentions of stopping anytime soon, and he hopes children’s books can bring everyone together.

"It doesn't matter what district are you from. It doesn't matter. We're all in the city of Pittsburgh," he said.

Cox Media Group