Knox Co. Mayor Glenn Jacobs pushes literacy with new video

Knoxville — Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs is certainly no stranger to the camera.

But what you may not have known about the former WWE wrestler: He has a love for books.

"My degree's in English,"

Jacobs said.

"I remember when I was a little kid, my folks were always reading and that's just sort of what I ended up doing."

That's why he's the face of a video promoting September as Library Card Sign-Up Month for Knox County Libraries.

"You can do a lot more than just check out a book,"

Jacobs said.

Learning job skills, studying for tests, tutoring--or in Jacobs' case, learning a new instrument.

"I do not play the ukulele,"

Jacobs said.

"But I'm going to learn by going to the library."

Mary Pom Claiborne with the Knox County Public Library says the support from Jacobs means a lot.

"Everybody in Knox County already has a library card for free, so they might as well use it,"

Claiborne said.

"He does appreciate books and reading,"

Claiborne said.

"But he also appreciates the broader mission of the library, which is education from cradle to your senior years."

And it's those early years where Jacobs wants to put an emphasis.

Knox County Superintendent Bob Thomas told 10News last month, only 40 percent of Knox County 3rd graders are reading at grade level right now.

"But for some kids--and I remember when I was a kid, I was a huge sports fan,"

Jacobs said.

"And I would rather pick up a book about sports than I would a novel, for instance. So it's really just figuring out what works and having the flexibility to accommodate individuals learners and individual readers."

If you want to sign up for your library card, you can stop by any of the libraries in Knox County.