The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to explore how pre-service elementary teacher education students form their reader identity, specifically how their reading identity is socially constructed by school literacy contexts and relationships. Social constructionism provided a theoretical framework for investigating how pre-service elementary teachers' memories and current reading identities are socially constructed by their experiences with reading. Data was collected at a Research I University in the Southern United States. Findings indicated that pre-service teachers have complex perspectives and experiences that combine to influence their understanding of what it means to be a reader, and they do not have simple reading identities that can be reduced to a socially constructed label such as "engaged" or "unengaged." The findings of this study revealed that pre-service elementary teachers describe reading and the act of reading differently for themselves than they do for others, that reading identity cannot be oversimplified with basic labels, and that a reader can be alliterate in one context while remaining engaged in another. These findings have implications for pre-service elementary teacher educators, elementary teacher educators, policymakers, and literacy researchers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]