The Culture and Future of Reading

Twenty Years Ago

April 28, 2001 – I just turned 7. One of my main griefs with life is that every first-grader gets a sticker on their chart when they lose a tooth, but none of mine have fallen out yet. (I would lose a few that summer, but most of them would wait until second grade.) I love reading almost as I love dolphins, which is a lot. I like to read during recess, but I usually have to do it outside until the bell rings. That's why I take a book with me to lunch. Some grown-ups say reading makes you smart, but I just do it for fun.

For some reason, my parents always dragged me along to Parent-Teacher Conferences, where my teachers would give glowing reviews of my academic performance. Several teachers recognized early on how "gifted" I was, particularly in mathematics and language arts. When my teacher asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I replied that I would like to be an author and a chef, stirring my soup as I write my next book. Despite the fact that I would ultimately pursue neither of these options, the love of reading was clearly instilled in me from a young age.

Looking at the personal reading habits of my childhood, I was a voracious, insatiable reader. I read anything and everything I could get my hands on. I read high above my grade level, skipping most early chapter books like Junie B. Jones altogether in favor of middle-grade/YA chapter books like Hatchet by Brian Paulsen and Harry Potter while still in elementary school.

I read everything from mysteries to action to sci-fi to fantasy to sports to westerns. (I remember reading Louis L'Amour in fourth or fifth grade. Not sure if it was appropriate content, but what's done is done.) I would read for hours after finishing my homework, sprawled out on the couch while my parents fixed dinner. I would also frequently read late into the night after my parents definitely thought I had gone to bed. Man, did I fool them. What a bad boy I was.

But life gets more complicated for everyone as they enter middle school, high school, higher education, and the workforce. There seems to be less time for reading, or rather, more things competing for our scarce leisure time. This led me to be more selective with what I read, and in certain seasons of my life, there was little to no reading whatsoever. 

As a child, I never tired from reading. As an adult, I find myself needing to vary what I read. While I have my favorites, I need to read diversely to avoid burnout. I can't read 20 thrillers in a row (not with this anxiety of mine.) Nor can I read 20 Westerns in a row. (I would literally burst into tears and/or flames.) This never seemed to be a problem as a child (see: me, age 9, reading the first 25 Animorphs books back-to-back-to-back-to...)

Twenty Years from Now

April 28, 2041 – A week after my 47th birthday, I revel in the luxury of a quiet Sunday. After church, my partner and I go off to visit my brother and his family for low-key festivities with close family. As much as we enjoy being with our loved ones, we don't stay too late: I've got to get to my job at the library in the morning, and I'm hoping to make some headway into the latest fantasy novel I checked out last week before turning in for the night. Opening the hardcover and smelling the fresh paper, I'm ready to begin this masterpiece of elemental magics that I've heard so much about....

Some are concerned for the longevity of the printed book, calling it a relic of a bygone era soon to be replaced with digital advances. However, I don't think that's something we need to worry about. Printed books have been around for quite some time, and they've been widespread since the Printing Revolution of the early 15th Century.

Of all the amazing things books are – an escape, a mirror, kindling for new thoughts, positively magical – one thing they aren't is fleeting. Books are here to stay, and there will always be those who prefer physical books to digital formats.

Some may argue that physical books will become a niche rarity, as we have seen with the formats of the vinyl record, the 8-track tape, the cassette tape, and the CD in the field of music. However, it is worth noting that each of these formats requires specialized equipment to be enjoyed, and this equipment can be worn down or broken, with increasing difficulty involved with finding replacements or repair services. This contrasts sharply with the printed book, which only requires "light, a human eye, and a human mind" (Le Guin, 2008, p. 37). And there's just something about holding a physical book that can't be replaced by a digital format, at least not in the next 20 years.

No one knows what the future holds, and who say if society will be reading more or less in 20 years. As literature forms an important piece of my livelihood, I will doubtless continue reading until my eyes or my mind no longer allow me to do so. While not everyone reads now and not everyone will read in the future, it's safe to say that books will always find a refuge and be welcome in my home.

Reference

Le Guin, U.K. (2008). Staying awake: Notes on the alleged decline of reading. Harper's Magazine, 316(1893), 33-37.