Week 15 Prompt

Reading has drastically changed over the course of my life, but it has always been a part of it. In my childhood I grew up with my parents, grandma, aunts, and uncles reading picture books to me. Not only reading them to me, but reading their favorite titles with me, which to me, is an important distinction.

As I got older and was able to start reading chapter books, I didn't really get too involved with books on my level, I wanted more details, more adventures. I still remember trying to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone when I was in first grade and feeling frustrated that I had to rely on my mom to read me only a couple chapters a night (pure torture!). This began my determination to read on my own which makes me laugh that my love of reading now can surely be linked to my 7 year old self's determination to have reading independence. I didn't have the greatest childhood (but who did, really) and I have always used books as a form of escape. This evolved into a love of reading (bordering on obsession maybe) that carried through until I started college.

All pleasure reading stopped when I was in college except for the occasional book or two. I was too overwhelmed with a full course load of books I didn't want to read and working multiple jobs at a time left me with no energy to read. I really take Le Guin's quote to heart when she said, "reading is not 'interactive,' with a set of rules or options, as games are; reading is actual collaboration with the writer's mind" (p. 37). At the time, I just didn't have that energy to collaborate. I look back on this time with regret. I think that if I would have been kinder to myself and allowed more time for me to enjoy myself, these years would have been easier.

Currently, I am back to being a reading machine! Once I graduated I had more free time and gradually built back up my love (and need) of reading. I would say that now it is more enjoyable because when I do read books I feel as though I am increasing my knowledge of the literary world and as such am becoming a better librarian.

With technology the way it is evolving today, I think that different forms of reading will continue to increase. With digital books and audiobooks becoming more available and more fairly priced (for individuals at least, not so much for libraries) this increases accessibility. With more accessibility the more people could be drawn into reading. I also think that this could potentially increase collaboration, like what Le Guin said above, with the author. Especially now that authors livestream events, give detailed interviews about what they were thinking during the writing process, and are more accessible via social media. I also think that traditional publishing will stick around for a while, but will most likely adapt within the next decade or so to be more focused on digital formats. I also see smaller publishing companies popping up and adapting to the new market more quickly than the big publishers out there. However, I could be completely wrong, I am just speculating. I just don't see the print format coming back to what it once was.

Thank you so much for all of your kind comments over the course of the semester, I enjoyed interacting with you! Have a great summer!!

References

Le Guin, U. K. (2008). Staying awake: notes on the alleged decline of reading. Harper's Magazine, 316(1893).