Where have all the readers gone?

The National Endowment for the Arts recently released a new report entitled, To read or Not to Read.  This report, like many previous studies found that Americans are reading less and less.  This trend is particularly strong among young adults and teenagers with the percentage of 17-year olds who read nothing at all for pleasure having doubled over the last 20 years. 

In particular, the focus of this report is on the importance of reading for a healthy society.  The authors discussed numerous measures of societal health such as academic achievement, employability, and time in prison as well as likelihood to exercise on a regular basis, likelihood to vote, and likelihood to do charitable work.  Reading habits impacted all of the above, leading the authors to conclude that reading is essential for a healthy, culturally vibrant, and informed citizenry.

As I read this, I was concerned as any civic-minded American would be.  However, I wouldn’t be completely honest if I did not admit that these findings disturbed me on a personal level as well.  As writer of fiction who aspires to be published some day, the idea that the book-buying public continues to shrink is alarming.  And you poets out there, memoir writers, self-help authors, it should concern you too!

You can’t pick up a journal, magazine or a book targeted to writers without reading about how difficult it is to be published and these trends give some evidence as to why this will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future.  If people don’t read (particularly young people) then they will not buy books.  If no one buys books, publishers can’t make money except in those rare instances when a blockbuster book comes along.  And of course, if publishers can’t make money, they won’t be around to publish our wonderful works. 

Therefore, I’d like to suggest a few things that we all can do right now to help improve the situation.

1)      Buy books - whatever you can afford, whenever you can.  Remember each purchase is supporting a working writer out there and your purchase is being tallied by Big Brother Publishing Company who monitors everything.  Besides, everything I’ve ever read about being a good writer says you have to be a diligent and prolific reader to get there.

2)      Give books as gifts, particularly to young people.  Most avid readers have a story of the first book that opened the world of reading to them.  I loved the Secret Garden and the Little Princess.  Perhaps the book you loved could open the world of reading for a young person in your life.  From dragons and magic to fashion and cheerleading, there are books out there geared to every interest. 

3)      Read to and with kids.  Obviously if you are a parent this is easy, but even if you are not, there are opportunities to volunteer at schools and in after school programs.  Make it fun and exciting; let your love of literature show.  Remember you are cultivating the next generation of readers (and hopefully buyers of your books).

4)      Become informed about the trends that impact readers and let your voice be heard.  The AJC recently fired their book editor in order to save costs.  In education, students are encouraged to learn for the sake of test scores.  There is a fundamental difference between learning for a test and learning to expand your horizons and increase your knowledge.  Let your elected officials know your opinion about how reading (and writing for that matter) is being taught in schools.

Whatever motivates you, there is a reason to care about reading.  Our society needs readers.  Reading can change the life of a child or an adult.  And even if those things aren’t particularly important from your perspective, this issue is personal to each and every writer.  Where will any of us be without readers??  Reading is important for more reasons than we can list but without concerted efforts from all who love the written word, it may be as popular with the next generation as spinning cloth or singing folk songs. 

—Tonya Crombie