Uploaded by coeur on 7 Apr 07, 11.49AM PST.
The famous Erasmus quote hung in my college dorm room: “ When I get a little money, I buy books; and, if any is left, I buy food and clothes.” Books are my weakness. Nothing exhilarates me more than browsing through new books (oh, the smell…) As discussed in an earlier post, reading is in trouble. I am making it a point to give more books this holiday season, albeit I am always reminded of this student’s response…
I spent hours at the Scholastic warehouse finding books to match the interest and reading ability of each student. The day of our holiday exchange, I was so excited for everyone to unwrap their treasures. One boy sat crying. I thought, “Oh, wow! He’s really touched by this book.” Fat chance! He said, “That’s all you got us was a book.” Yes, “just” a book! Sad 
Everyone has a weakness. Captain Ahab had the white whale Moby Dick. Superman has Kryptonite. For me, it’s Amazon.com. That’s right, the online bookseller.My wife once gave me a sweat shirt with a quote from the Christian humanist Erasmus: “When I get a little money, I buy books; and, if any is left, I buy food and clothes.” Erasmus would have loved Amazon.com. Almost any book, just a mere mouse-click away, and it shows up on your doorstep.Unfortunately, though, reading in the United States is in trouble. That’s what a study from the National Endowment for the Arts published last month reported. That’s not good news for any of us. “To Read or Not to Read” pulled together data from 40 studies on reading habits and skills among children, teens and adults. The findings make clear that Americans in general are spending less time reading than in years past, with the trends particularly bleak among teenagers and young adults. Nearly half of all 18- to 24-year-olds read no books for pleasure, and the percentage of 17-year-olds reading nothing for fun doubled in 20 years.
Reading less, of course, translates into reading less well.
Reading scores are down for high school seniors, and reading proficiency rates among adults are stagnant or falling. The report found that reading for pleasure correlates strongly with academic achievement. And good readers generally earn more, have better career opportunities and participate at higher rates in cultural, sports and civic activities. When people read more, the individual and the society benefit.
So what are people doing instead of reading? No real surprises here: The report noted that among Americans between ages 15 and 24, leisure reading averaged 7 to 10 minutes per day, compared to 2 to 2 1/2 hours of watching television.
And in the July issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, researchers Hope Cummings and Elizabeth Vandewater found that video gamers between ages 10 and 19 played for an average of an hour on weekdays. Gamers wound up spending 30 percent less time reading and 34 percent less time doing homework than nongamers.
In addition, the research firm Media-Screen reported in May that broadband users spend 48 percent of their free time, or one hour and 40 minutes, on the Internet on a typical weekday.
So, technology can be a challenge. But can it help as well? No doubt, people are doing more than just watching lousy YouTube videos while they’re online. Many, presumably, are reading.
It’s also worth noting that in October, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported: “Teens are far more likely than their parents to view technological devices as playing helpful roles in their lives.”
Why not take advantage of this to boost reading?
That brings us back to Amazon.com, which last month introduced the Kindle. It’s a sleek, portable reader that weighs a mere 10.3 ounces and can store hundreds of books. Though I’m mainly a paper guy when it comes to books, the Kindle is cool. It has an easy-on-the-eyes, high-resolution display, and it’s simple to use right out of the box.
Books bought on the Kindle or through the Amazon.com Web site are downloaded directly to the device in less than a minute. Some newspapers and magazines are available as well. And while the Kindle is pricey ($399), the books cost less in this nonpaper format. In the end, it ranks as a fine addition to the reader’s tool kit.
So, why not books for Christmas this year? For some, the right present is the traditional paper book - a technology that never gets old. For others, it might be new technology like the Kindle.
Either way, Erasmus had it right: The gift of reading has a deeper impact than food or clothes.
Retrieved from the Chicago Tribune.
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