Reading for Pleasure at SDSU (and at Home)
Too often, when we talk about reading at San Diego State University, we are talking about the sort of reading usually described as “required,” "mandatory,” or “compulsory,” i.e., reading that has been assigned for a class or is required to meet the goals of an assignment. For many students caught up in this dynamic, the following observation from 2017 may sound familiar: “A common complaint I hear about reading from my students . . . is that being forced to read in school turned them off from reading altogether.”
Why should we worry if students have been “turned off from reading” by the demands of their coursework throughout high school and college? From the library perspective, we are concerned because the promotion of literacy is one of our primary missions, from children’s and young adult services to book reviews and academic fairs to reading clubs for adults and senior citizens. As the American Library Association has stated, “lifelong literacy is a basic right for all individuals in our society and is essential to the welfare of the nation,” but it is a challenge for individuals to assert that basic right in a society increasingly concerned with a variety of literacies – the ability to read and write, the ability to locate and evaluate information across multiple media, the ability to access and communicate clearly about data – if one has simply ceased to be engaged by the (not so) simple act of reading.
A recent study by researchers from the University of Florida and University College London “found that daily reading for pleasure in the United States has declined by more than 40% over the last 20 years” and found that changes were more significant for certain groups, including “people with lower income or educational attainment, and those in rural (versus metropolitan) areas.” Reading for pleasure, they conclude, may contribute to health and wellness, creativity, empathy, and lifelong learning. How often you read for pleasure may also be related to how often you read to your children (an essential component of support for early literacy development). In a university environment characterized by required reading, how can the University Library contribute to a renewed commitment to reading for pleasure? One way is through our Gateway Collection of popular reading materials.
Launched earlier this year, the Gateway Collection provides access to popular fiction and non-fiction, and supplements the access already available to the SDSU community through the Circuit consortium. Gateway Collection books have already been borrowed more than 250 times this year, with some of the most popular titles including The Life Impossible, by Matt Haig, and Intermezzo, by Salley Rooney. With more than 300 titles currently available through this collection, there is something for everyone looking to refresh their love of reading for pleasure.
You’ve done the hard work all semester to complete reading assignments, writing assignments, speaking assignments, artistic assignments, and more. Before you go home for the holidays, why not pick up a “fun read” from the Gateway Collection and reconnect with everything you loved about reading when you were growing up. As Instruction Librarian Suzanne Maguire reminds us: “Students have a reciprocal relationship with reading. If they enjoy reading, they’re more likely to read more often, have more confidence in their reading, and place value on it as an activity.”
And remember, if you can’t find something in our collection (or if what you want is already checked out), there is probably a public library near your home ready to help!
