There’s been a
lot of noise in the press about people reading less, how the book is dead, and that’s
leading to the decline of civilization in general. But Justin Marquis,
professor of educational technology at Indiana University, reported in a recent
blog post for Online Universities that the tide just might be turning.
Marquis points to
research done in 2007 by the National Endowment for the Arts that showed
reading was on the decline. It suggested college freshmen were not reading for
pleasure and that online reading wasn’t helping.
Fast-forward five
years and that just might be changing. The Pew Internet & American Life
Project’s release of findings in April indicating young people are now actually
reading more, and e-readers are part of the reason. The report implies
availability of e-reading devices coupled with decreasing e-book prices is having
a positive effect on student reading habits.
Marquis isn’t claiming
the fight is far from over. In fact, while pointing out the many benefits of higher
levels of reading among young people, he also documented that the number of
Americans over the age of 18 who had read no books at all in the 12 months
before the survey.
