Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-13
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the B0okloUer

! magazines and only so per cent read
books Who are these readers? Why
do they read? How much do they
read? How can their reading habits
be improvedr These are the i'm
portant questions that are discussed In
1.-The Reading Interests and Habits of
Adults" by william s. Gray. dean of
the College Of Education, University
OF Chicago, and Ruth Munroe, formerly
! an assistant In the Cleveland Public
! Library. This study, which is described
! as "a preliminary report" was made At
the behest of the American Association
for Adult Education and OF the Ameri-
can Library Association. 1t grew out
| of a recognition OF the fact that the
success OF the adult education work of
libraries and Of many other agencies
| depends in large measure on the
kind of reading habits with which
| young people and adults are equipped
or can be helped to develop. IL had,
| Furthermore. long been recognized that
not enough Is known about the reading
habits of actual and potential patrons
| of libraries nor about the influences
which determine the development of
reading habits to proceed with con-
! fidence on A program OF adult educa-
| ton involving reading and the use
Of libraries The problem set up by
the committee Of the two associations
! was Ito discover what IL In the ex-
/ perience of some persons which cause
| habits of reading and what is lacking
! from the experience Of others which
leaves them without such habits"
! Since 1900 more than 800 separate
! studies Of reading interests and habits
/ Have been reported. These studies
! have been carefully summarized by the
| authors with the aim of discovering
the motives that prompt people to read,
| the influences which stimulate keen
| interest in reading, the amount and
/ kind of reading done. the types OF
! books and magazines preferred. and the
effect of such factors as age. race. ma
! tionalitp, education and type of COM
munity on the amount and character
of the reading that is done. A series
| Of case studies Of about 900 adults, rep
resenting various social groups, supplied
detailed information concerning read
| ing interests. These case studies af-
| ford evidence OF the influences that
lead people to read certain types OF
| books. Here Is Mr. B.. who as boy
was on the verge of being sent h A
| reformatory when he came under the
| influence of teacher who stimulated
| his interest in reading, which led to
his present literary interest Mrs. S..
now employed as housekeeper, who
| reads Wells. Galsworthy, Tolstoi, etc,
and specializes In books on the French
| Revolution formerly read nothing but
| light novels. Each OF the numerous
cases is given a suggested interpreta-
ton. The authors show that reading
| is rapidly assuming q place OF first i'm
portance in modern life. America is
becoming a Nation of readers-but the
reading habits OF people in California
differ largely. from those in Arkansas
or Mississippi The reading OF news
papers and magazines increased almost
! 100 per cent from 1888 to 1928. How
ever. many OF these are Of the cheap
sensational type.
Some of the interesting facts dis
covered and conclusions Drawn may be
briefly summarized, often In the words
of the authors of the book. Men de-
vote q much larger amount Of time to
newspaper reading than women and
also read for longer period Of time
each day Women are more interested
! in books and magazines and less IN
newspapers than men. Married people
devote larger amount OF time to read
ing than unmarried: older people devote
somewhat more time to reading than
women, particularly among the married
groups. Adults in cities read far more
than adults in the country. Movies do
| not affect interest in reading Sports.
cartoons. photographs and sensational
news are preferred by newspaper read
ers. Interest in the radio is in inverse
proportion to the amount of education
| and book reading. A relatively small
percentage of adults do not read at all.
But this group numbers millions.
surprisingly large number of adults have
| never been taught to read. Many adults
who went to school as children have
read so little since that they are unable
| now to read even a simple newspaper
! account or q letter A somewhat differ
! ent class of adults can read relatively
simple material. but are unable to find
books or articles relating to matters of
! interest to them that are sufficiently
simple and untechnical to be read
easily. Many adults fail to read be-
cause they are not interested.
-
The authors of THE Reading Inter-
ests and Habits of Adults" conclude
their report with an analysis of the
interests and motives Of readers and OF
the influences which have promoted the
development of reading habits and with
a plea for the establishment Of desir-
able reading habits early in life. They
f1nd that young people and adults are
going to libraries in increasing numbers
10 read about wide range Of signifl-
cant topics such as literature, travel
and psychology, as well as topics which
suggest interest Of vocational or pro-
fessional nature. In order to meet
these demands adequately the authors
point out that libraries must be Or
ganized more largely than in the past
to provide for the recreational reading
and study interests OF all the citizens
of a community as contrasted with
those Of literary inclinations only. AS
libraries are used more and more wide
ly for these purposes there will be In
creasing need for Librarians who are
competent research workers and who
can give help to young people and
adults who are studying specific prob
lems." The authors stress the point
that. although great good may be
achieved through corrective measures
with adults, the need for such steps in
the adult education program of the fu-
ture should decrease rapidly through the
tivities of children. This will result in
increased adult education, but with the
emphasis shifted to guidance and
stimulation on higher and more pro-
ductive levels. Studies OF the reading
habits of children reveal that reading
interests of boys and girls increase
rapidly until Ia or IA years Of age.
After that young people under the right
kind of home, school and library in
fiuences continue desirable reading
habits; without such influences young
people both in and out of school dis
continue reading because Of the promi-
hence of other interests and activities:
The period of from IL to Is is critical
In the development Of desirable reading
habits that persist. and secondary school
teachers in general have not awakened
IN fl,eir oy,fsort,tnities and responSibili-