The Case for Reading

The End of Reading is Here, the Atlantic article headlined screamed off the page at me. I am not going to argue with the statistics or attempt to combat each anecdote with an equally powerful pithy story of students I see fully engaged with their texts, but I will tell you why I won’t accept it.  

And yes, I won’t accept it. I am making an active choice to stave off a post-literary world. Books are entry points into worlds unknown and yet unexplored. You can visit golden sand beaches and live in dystopian New York City. You can become infected by apocalypse zombies and experience unconditional love from a parent figure. You can share bottomless grief and the second chance of a winning lottery ticket.  

Whatever your life is today, you can find another life in the pages of a book. However you think today, you can find a reason to change your mind or at least open yourself to a new perspective. 

Reading can be a solitary act, but books have long helped me create community. Today, I am in a book group with seven amazing women. Busy educators who are remarkably smart but all very different. What I learn from them and how they internalize the books we read, what they share about their own lives, makes me feel connected and has created a sense of belonging I struggle to find elsewhere. 

As a middle school educator, I have heard my students talk about characters with divorced parents, protagonists who felt lonely and isolated, sidekicks who bravely step forward to confront a bully. Conversations that are too fraught and scary to have about ourselves but spill out of them when they can talk about a shared reading.  

And, it’s not just middle schoolers…..

This year at our opening faculty meeting, I created a game. Each member of our faculty brought in a book that they have read to share with another colleague. The game was simple: a colleague steps into the circle with a one-sentence synopsis or teaser of their book, and another colleague races in to grab it. Then it’s their turn to describe the book they brought to share for another’s taking. We exchanged close to 70 books. Fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, memoir, murder mystery, magical realism, classics, and bestsellers.  

We will read our books and then we will carve out space and time to discuss our books with each other. I want to hear from my colleagues what this experience means to them. Was it fun? We could all use a bit more fun. Did they learn something new? We are teachers, and we love learning new things. Did it provide a way into a relationship with someone they don’t usually collaborate with? Cross-departmental relationships enhance and ease our work together. Did they notice that reading felt enjoyable, productive, and a great way to de-stress or reduce preoccupation with forces outside their control? Reading is better than doomscrolling. 

And, I want our students to see us read. That matters as well. I want our students to see the book on the desk and ask “Is it good?” or “What is that about?” We know that reading builds vocabulary, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, compassion, and empathy. 

I want to live in a world where more people read books. So I’ll keep talking about the books I like and the ones I didn’t. I’ll keep passing along my copies to the next reader, hoping that the book travels its own road, inspiring new conversations and new dreams.