Reading Trends and College-Age Students: The Research, the Issues, and the Role of Libraries

Abstract

explores the actual state of reading on our college campuses, why reading is important for students, what barriers exist to leisure reading, whether reading on screens helps or hinders, and what academic libraries can do to help both readers and non-readers. " For years many people have believed that reading for pleasure is a self-indulgent and escapist activity. Until the1990s, few researchers actually studied the role of leisure reading in life. But studies from the last two decades demonstrate that recreational reading plays an essential — in fact, fundamental — role in our lives" (28).