This issue of "Progressions" shares the lessons learned by the Lilly Endowment's Education Division from partnerships with educators, librarians, parents, and community activists. The articles look at individual components of the endowment's overall plan to promote reading among youngsters in grades five through nine, and to introduce the Middle Grades Reading Network--the next phase of the reading initiative--that is designed to build on the success of early programs. The six articles and their authors are as follows: (1) "Survival Skill. Reading: Connecting with the Real World" (Stephen Silha); (2) "Hooked on Reading: Teachers and Students Lured Back to the Books" (Beverley J. Pitts), describing three school-based projects--Student-Operated Paperback Bookshops, Teachers under Cover, and Reading for Real--which are part of the Middle Grades Reading Program; (3) "Just Add Books: Libraries Learn to Repopulate 'No Man's Land'" (Dennis E. Hensley), describing four projects promoting library use by young adolescents; (4) "Model Behavior: Parents, Communities Reinforce Reading Efforts" (Mary W. Atteberry), discussing programs to involve parents and communities in strengthening children's reading habits; (5) "The Next Step: Middle Grades Reading Network" (Jack W. Williams); and (6) "Reflections: Lessons of a Grantmaker" (Joan Lipsitz). (SR)