Blum | THE unITEd sTATEs oF (non)REAdIng 73But it is not only college teachers who worry about how much people
are reading. There is a widespread belief that Americans in general read
less and less. This perception builds on public conversations about the
lack of reading. In 2007 a National Endowment for the Arts study con-
cluded that adults’ reading habits were in severe decline. Only 57 per-
cent of adults read a book voluntarily in 2002, down from 61 percent
in 1992.
This was supposed to have all sorts of terrible consequences: educa-
tional, of course, but also economic, social, moral, you name it.
Reversing the cup-half-empty conclusion, a 2013 study showed that
more than half read books for pleasure — just not what the NEA defines
(or would if the Government were functioning) as “literature.”
And the Pew interpretation was that if reading for work and school
is added to “voluntary reading,” then almost all people read “books” at
some point during the year: 79 percent of 18 to 24 year-olds, and 90 per-
cent of 16 to 17 year-olds.
It is undeniable that people are reading (looking at) writing all the
time. It may not be in physical books, however. And just this week, USA
Today argued that digital devices increase book reading (on the devices).
David Carr wrote in 2008 about the decline in attention — not only
in our students. Attention spans, focus, mindfulness... all these are
shrinking. Technology plays a role in this, as many of us spend much
of our lives looking at short items. The Onion, the humor website, puts
most of its efforts into its headlines. Blogs should be at most one thou-
sand words, but three hundred is better. (This one is too long.)
So if students are sipping text constantly on their devices, and sud-
denly they are asked to consume what sounds like an insurmountable
mountain of pages in some other form — and for what!? — they are
likely to avoid it entirely.
“Flipping the classroom” has attempted to seek some kind of account-
ability from students for their reading, so that they have to engage in
one way or another with their material prior to assembling for the pre-
cious moment of face-to-face interaction. This requires reading — but
reading with a goal. Students often like to do that, as a kind of scaven-
ger hunt for what is useful and important. Just having them read for
background ideas seems to be fading.
Actually, I have stopped worrying constantly about this. Students
are reading. The public is reading. They may not sit for hours, still and
attentive, and focus on one item. They may confuse their facts. They
may miss a complex argument.
Don't misunderstand. I worship reading. When I travel for three
days, in addition to all my devices I bring six books and five (print)
magazines. Yet I cannot concentrate the way I used to. So those less
devoted.... Should we cut them off from the world, isolate them in
soundproof rooms with no WiFi, and force them to read a book?1112131415161718192003_GRE_5344_Ch3_055_079.indd 73 11/19/14 11:06 AM