One of the things that Joanne Byron missed the most when she left her teaching position in Newton in 1989, were the guest speakers.    Doctors, lawyers, scientists, musicians, all invitees gave her students another role model and sparked ideas for their future.

So when she found out about Reading is Fundamental, the national program that invites volunteers to read books to children, she saw it as a way to continue providing students with role models.

"I decided to become a professional model after 20 years in education," Byron said.  "But I wanted to continue reading to the children - so I started doing Reading is Fundamental."

This week, Reading is Fundamental celebrated its 20th year in Massachusetts' classrooms.  And under Byron's leadership as coordinator of A Salute to RIF, the statewide program that coordinates the readers and the schools, the program has been extended to hospitals, youth centers, and "anywhere there's kids," said Byron.

The first year of the program, Byron organized a fashion show to raise money to bring RIF, which also donates books to participating schools, to Massachusetts.  Sharing the runway with her were New England Patriots, members of Massachusetts' Washington delegation, and members of the Wareham Board of Selectmen.

"I'm hard to say no to," Byron said, laughing.

The next year, readers first visited the schools.  Twenty-years later she remembers books by their readers - Joe Kennedy, for instance, always chose "Make Way for Ducklings" - and can recite a litany of Massachusetts celebrities who have participated in the program over the years.  She was especially honored to have this year's program named in honor of her brother the late Judge Christopher Byron.

And she plans to keep going.

Her next big get?

"Shaquille O'Neal," she said.  "He's on the national board of advisers and he's local now!"