The article reflects the reading crisis and the impact of this phenomenon on children's adaptation to societal rigors. The author states that functional illiteracy is characteristic of people who attended school, but cannot use reading, writing or information resources skills; they have difficulties and do not understand written instructions, which turns them into problems of social marginalization. People with functional illiteracy face problems regarding their placement in professional activity, they get the appearance of a marginalized group in society, unemployment is a characteristic that ultimately defines them. It is very important that society, through relevant institutions, through organizations, recognizes illiteracy as a problem that can be solved by involvement, by providing relevant educational programs. Thus, reading being one of the primary tools to combat functional illiteracy. The challenges and problems facing humanity today converge towards a new meaning of the concept of learning, and from the retrospective and prospective analyzes of the phenomenon of functional illiteracy, the logical conclusion can be deduced: the need for a new vision of education through reading.