The Little Free Libraries idea is to promote reading and literacy in communities around the country through tiny “libraries” — wooden boxes in fixed locations that allow people to exchange books. Her mother, Tracy, is a Little Free Libraries steward, according to WKYC.

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The interview clip has made Madison a top ambassador for Little Free Libraries. “She’s a way better spokesperson than I am,” Todd Bol, executive director of the Little Free Library movement, told WKYC this week.

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Watch her work:

In the realm of interviews with elementary school students, this one is a masterpiece. It’s not easy to get a good soundbite from a young child (this reporter speaks from personal experience).

Let’s break down this particular work of art, shall we?

0:08: “Is this gonna be on TV?” Madison asks. The reporter responds: “Yeah.”

Madison, we commend you for your honesty. And extra points for keeping that portion of the interview intact, WKYC. Folks, this is how the sausage of local news gets made.

0:23: “Are you excited you’re going to be getting a Little Free Library?”

You know, as if it wasn’t clear.

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0:31: “What do you like about the library?”

Madison breaks it down: “I like that we can get a book, and in the same token, we can give a book back. So the environment isn’t without a book. We have a book but we also give a book, so we both win.”

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This kind of give and take is something our politicians would do well to heed. Madison, got room in your schedule to make a quick trip to Washington?

0:59: “Besides, I have a lot of books,” Madison says. “… And it’ll be a good time to exchange them.”

Hey, it’s alright girl, you’re allowed to get something out of this.

The reporter continues, “You’ve already read them and you need to get new stories?”

“Yeah,” Madison says. “I read them like a million times!”

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1:44: “The world needs books. What would the world be like, without books? They fuel our mind like cars and gas. The cars can’t go without gas. Our brains can’t go without books. The world, needs books! We — need books.”

Madison is a star. Madison for Education Secretary. Madison for Reading Czar. Madison 2044.

2:10: “So you basically now outshined everybody else,” the reporter says. To which Madison says: “Yeah.”

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Kudos for acknowledging how bright you’re shining here, Madison. No need to hide your luster.

2:18: “It would break my heart if one book was lost,” Madison says. “Just a page. Just a word. Just a letter was gone. I would be heartbroken.”



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Who’s stealing this kid’s books?!

2:31: Again, Madison imagines a world without books. “The world would be empty. Like a bucket without water. Like a brain without knowledge. Like a filing cabinet without papers.”

Buckets, brains and filing cabinets. Things we all need and use. Solid analogies, Madison. I plan to use them liberally.

2:58: Madison explains what books did for the world. “Everything was opened up. Colors came, inventors were born. Inventions were made.”

And then, in case you weren’t convinced yet: “The world was a better place!”

Madison, this interview fills up my heart like knowledge fills brains and water fills buckets.