By ABC-7 Reporter Veronique Masterson

EL PASO -- Central Connecticut State University just released a study on America's most literate cities for 2008. El Paso ranked number 71, dead last on the list.

Three more Texas cities -- Arlington, San Antonio and Brownsville -- also ranked near the bottom of the list.

"It is an alarming sign," said local author Ana Castillo, "it doesn't have to be this way." Castillo, a celebrated poet, novelist and professor, believes the numbers should motivate El Pasoans to place more value on pursuing knowledge.

It paints a negative picture of the Borderland, which is predominantly Hispanic, Castillo said. She believes El Paso ranks at the bottom of the list because many people are descendants of labor and working-class families. "We have to learn to break those barriers and break those legacies that we inherited," added Castillo.

The study focuses on the number of bookstores, library resources and the city's education attainment, among other things. The results present what the university's president calls a large-scale portrait of our nation's cultural vitality.

Castillo said reading is an investment people from any background should make. "It's not a question of not placing value on working hard and it's not a question of not putting value on having a better life for yourself or for your children." The author, who currently lives in southern New Mexico, said families must emphasize reading at home and at the library.

"It will take a great deal of motivation and self understanding," said Castillo, "every single one of us -- as teachers, as parents, as students -- has to take their destiny into their own hands."