Pew Report on Younger Americans and Public Libraries

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Froide

Very surprised by the number of people, of all ages, who reported they NEVER read.

It doesn't surprise me at all, regrettably. Most of my friends never read a book, and I mean NEVER.

[mitford13]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

Even more interesting might have been the answer if the followup question was to name a book they have read in the past 24 hours, and tell me about something you read in the book.

Or maybe even better: If we interview your two or three closest friends, are they going to back you up on your reading a book on a daily basis? A No answer here wouldn't mean much, but a slow response to the question could reasonably be coded as prevarication.

Ah hell...back in my early kindle days I used to do something wrong (still don't know what) and my current read would disappear from the home screen. More than once I just could not remember title or, worse, author, but fortunately usually came up with a sufficiently unusual name inside the book to use the global search. Anyway, I generally average a book a day and gave up on pesky details a long time ago.
Or more likely, with that age thing, they gave up on me.

[crich70]

I feel a bit sorry for those who don't know the pleasure of reading a good book. They don't know what they're missing out on.

[DNSB]

A good point. I still remember reading how Louis 14th had a large library. He had a whole 24 books in it. Of course books were hand copied back then and too expensive for many people. And even with Gutenberg's press I imagine literacy spread slowly at first.[/QUOTE]

Ahhh.... the good old days of the chained library. Heck, you seldom even see a good book curse these days. They just don't write colophons the way they used to.

If interested, see Book Curses for more information.

Regards,
David

[Froide]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It doesn't surprise me at all, regrettably. Most of my friends never read a book, and I mean NEVER.

That makes me sad. +1 to:

Originally posted by crich70
I feel a bit sorry for those who don't know the pleasure of reading a good book. They don't know what they're missing out on.

[harriska2]

Originally Posted by crich70

I feel a bit sorry for those who don't know the pleasure of reading a good book. They don't know what they're missing out on.

I'm with you. It's my cheap vacation. I'm reading Discovery of Witches (not a normal read for me but it is good and was highly recommended by friend/neighbors). I feel like I know Oxford's library really well now And no scrunched plane ride or expensive hotels.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by crich70

I feel a bit sorry for those who don't know the pleasure of reading a good book. They don't know what they're missing out on.

That's exactly the problem:
You only can miss, what you've experienced (enjoyed) at least once.
I came to enjoy work life and can't imagine going back to a student's life. But back then, I couldn't imagine having to work.
Same with some of the kids in my wider surroundings: They are fine with their tablets, video games or sports and can't imagine, reading could be anything than dull or boring.
I partially blame schools and wannabe intellectuals: Reading isn't enough, you can't just read belletristic. Even "Robinson Crusoe" isn't enough. At least it should be "Moby Dick". I'd be glad, if my 11 year old niece at least would start reading Stephen King. Anything at all...

[crich70]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

That's exactly the problem:
You only can miss, what you've experienced (enjoyed) at least once.
I came to enjoy work life and can't imagine going back to a student's life. But back then, I couldn't imagine having to work.
Same with some of the kids in my wider surroundings: They are fine with their tablets, video games or sports and can't imagine, reading could be anything than dull or boring.
I partially blame schools and wannabe intellectuals: Reading isn't enough, you can't just read belletristic. Even "Robinson Crusoe" isn't enough. At least it should be "Moby Dick". I'd be glad, if my 11 year old niece at least would start reading Stephen King. Anything at all...

Part of it might indeed be schools. Steve Allen wrote an article once about having to read Moby Dick for school. He hated it because it was assigned reading and he wasn't ready for it yet. Yrs later he went back to it and loved it. Schools assign reading as a group effort and not everyone likes the same genre so they get to dislike reading.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by crich70

I feel a bit sorry for those who don't know the pleasure of reading a good book. They don't know what they're missing out on.

There are many unique pleasures in this world and I'm sure all of us miss out on at least a few of them (and others wish we could know them).

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by crich70

Steve Allen wrote an article once about having to read Moby Dick for school. He hated it because it was assigned reading and he wasn't ready for it yet. Yrs later he went back to it and loved it. Schools assign reading as a group effort and not everyone likes the same genre so they get to dislike reading.

I just searched to see if kids taught in the open classrooms of the 1960's and 1970's, in which children could mostly read what they wanted, read more for pleasure as adults, but I can't find anyone doing such a long-term test of your hypothesis. It seems a plausible, if difficult, research project.

I recall not just assigned reading, but also being forced to sit through boring classroom films. Could that be why I'm not all that much interested in the movies, or TV, today?

Of course, I think the answer to that last question is no.

I wonder if limiting screen time works.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

I just searched to see if kids taught in the open classrooms of the 1960's and 1970's, in which children could mostly read what they wanted, read more for pleasure as adults, but I can't find anyone doing such a long-term test of your hypothesis. It seems a plausible, if difficult, research project.

I recall not just assigned reading, but also being forced to sit through boring classroom films. Could that be why I'm not all that much interested in the movies, or TV, today?

Of course, I think the answer to that last question is no.

I wonder if limiting screen time works.

There are some differences between films and books though. You don't need to engage your mind as much with a 2 hr movie as you do with words on a page. People tend to zone out and only remember some key scenes with any clarity. Anyway Mr. Allen went to school back in the 30's and 40's I'd guess since he was a young man on TV in the 50's so it's likely things were changed a bit over the decades, though I also remember having to read assigned books like "Lord of the Flies" when I was in high school. I don't watch much live TV either (mostly DVD's) because the quality of programming has dropped a lot since I was a kid. Books on the other hand are still going strong.

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by harriska2

I'm with you. It's my cheap vacation. I'm reading Discovery of Witches (not a normal read for me but it is good and was highly recommended by friend/neighbors). I feel like I know Oxford's library really well now And no scrunched plane ride or expensive hotels.

It does make you feel like you know the library and the area, doesn't it? I love that series.