How Much Do You Read?
Over the past few weeks, I have seen an article or two discussing the amount of reading people do by age group. While looking for at least one of those articles, I stumbled across The Atlantic’s article, The Decline of the American Book Lover, from January 2014.
According to research done by the Pew Research Center, 25% of American adults have not read a book or from a Kindle/electronic device or listened to an audio book in the last year.
There are many reasons why this might be occurring. Too much TV? Technology? Cultural changes?
All of this information, plus what I had previously read, made me wonder about the amount of reading adults do and what that reading is.
My closest friends are in education, so, while they read throughout the school year, they tend to make lists and stacks of books to read during the summer when they have more time. This reading, no matter the time of year, is balanced between “mindless” reading or reading for fun and educational related books.
What saddens me is the number of teachers with whom I come in contact who do not read—rather for fun or to continue learning. That is a blog for another day.
What do we need to do to help keep American adults reading? Share books and ideas.
To be honest, I do not spend a lot of time reading books. I read articles, magazines, and required reading for work, reading that tends to be shorter or for a specific purpose. I love books, becoming a part of the story, and living vicariously through the characters, but I always find something else to do rather than pick-up a book. (Yes, it is difficult for me to admit.) There are several reasons for this.
1. I don’t always have time. I just don’t make the time.
2. When I start a book, I don’t want to put it down until it is finished, which interferes with my needed sleep during the school year or with the other tasks I need to complete. I just can’t put it down until it is finished.
3. I would rather read Young Adult or fiction books, but if I do have time during the school year, I feel I need to read something educational and related to work, and these aren’t always as entertaining.
What does get me to read more? My friends sharing titles or acutally handing the book to me. The Literacy Triad tries to read some of the same books so we can talk about them. When I read, I want to talk about the book, and I can’t do that until all 3 of us as finished the book. Other times, I want to be part of the conversation, but I can’t because I haven’t read the book. During lunch, the group eating with me share books titles and summaries with one another. I also get great ideas from my Facebook friends sharing books they have just finished.
In order to keep American adults reading, we have to keep sharing book ideas. Don’t be afraid to share titles to one another, start book sharing, and more. Keep Americans reading!
Resources:
Weissmann, J. (January 21, 2014). The Atlantic: The Decline of the American Book Lover And Why the Downturn Might Be Over. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/the-decline-of-the-american-book-lover/283222/ on July 11, 2014.
This post was written for The Literacy Triad by Micheal J. Kessner, Ed.D.
