Prompt Response Week 16

First, how have reading and books changed since you were a child, for you specifically?

When I was first beginning to read, I did it to impress my mom and brothers that I could read. I was very good at reading before Kindergarten. I couldn’t get enough. But once I began going to school and I was forced to read, it became less fun. I read so much for school I did not want to go home and read. The only books I read for fun were Harry Potter. There were quite a few books I read for school I enjoyed, but I still did not want to go home and read. It was not until I finished college in December 2015 where I wanted to read and was excited to read. And now that I am finishing my MLS, I am even more excited to read.

In my opinion, I think forcing children and teens to read is only going to make them hate it. It happened to me, I saw it all around me, and I see it in my children and teen patrons today. This isn’t happening to all youth, but for it is for many. When reading does not feel like an assignment, it is more pleasing in my opinion. And I can understand why many choose not to read. As Ursala K. Le Guin states in the essay “Staying Awake,” books require more focus and more attention compared to watching TV or other activities, so it is not surprising people have a hard time reading. (Le Guin 37). Reading can be like this for me, especially if I had a long day at work. But I like knowing I can read a book whenever I want, rather then knowing I have to read a specific book by a specific date.

Second, talk a little about what you see in the future for reading, books, or publishing - say 20 years from now. Will we read more or less, will our reading become more interactive? What will happen to traditional publishing? This is a very free-form question, feel free to wildly extrapolate or calmly state facts, as suits your mood!

I don’t see too much change from reading habits now. I think print will still be preferred by most. I think more people compared to now will be reading ebooks as people become more used to technology, especially if ebook devices become more user-friendly. Again, I think print will continue to be more popular.

I found the paragraph about the high point for reading the U.S. very intriguing. It’s not something you think about often, and it makes sense. That is when more and more people began to read, and that is when many public libraries began, including the one I work at which opened in 1896. Reading at this time was also a popular activity (Le Guin 34). Today we have so much more to do in our spare time. So of course people do not read as much as they did or as much as they’d like.

I believe traditional publishing will still be a thing and the route that would be most successful, but I also believe more people will self-publish using the internet. I think people will continue to watch out for the best channels to get their work out there. I see a bright future for independent authors. However, like we discussed in this class, I think self-publishers will have trouble getting their work out there and reviewed compared to traditionally published books.

Work Cited

Le Guin, U. K. (2008). Staying Awake: Notes On The Alleged Decline Of Reading. Harper's Magazine, 316(1893).