Teens and Pleasure Reading

By Vivian Howard
 
As a self-confessed avid reader, I’ve long been fascinated by the topic of reading for pleasure. Why do some people find such satisfaction and fulfillment from reading while others regard reading as a chore? What factors make a difference in establishing lifelong reading habits? What factors influence a reader’s choice of reading materials? These questions have not been much discussed in the information science research literature although a few recent surveys have raised the profile of reading for pleasure as a subject for research investigation.  

Recent Surveys on Pleasure Reading

A 2004 poll conducted by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts, the Reading at Risk study, tracked a steady decline in literary reading by adult Americans over the past twenty years, with the steepest decline among the youngest age group surveyed, 18-24 year-olds. In Canada, a similar study, Reading and Buying Books for Pleasure, was conducted by the department of Canadian Heritage as a national telephone survey in January 2005, but with dramatically different findings. Reading and Buying Books for Pleasure was the first major national survey of Canadian reading and book-purchasing habits since the survey Reading in Canada (1991) and asked almost two thousand Canadians aged 16 and over about their reading behaviours and preferences, their reading skills, their attitudes towards reading, their use of the public library, and their book-buying habits. In contrast to the American Reading at Risk study, this survey concluded that, in Canada, reading for pleasure is a “solidly established and widespread habit with little or no change over the last 15 years.”

While these two surveys raise some intriguing questions about national differences in attitudes towards reading, neither examines the reading habits of young teens, an unfortunate omission since much previous research tracks the beginning of the decline in pleasure reading to early adolescence. In 2003, the Halifax Regional School Board (HRSB) began a series of literacy assessments to determine how well students are developing the strategies needed to meet the outcomes in the Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum in grades 2 and 9 (Literacy Assessment Results, 2006). The 2006-2007 HRSB Literacy Assessment results reveal that only 55 per cent of the grade 9 students, in comparison with 72% of grade 2 students, self-identified as “readers” even though 98 per cent were able to read a text at grade level. Thus, it appears that in Halifax Regional School Board as elsewhere, reading for pleasure declines rather dramatically as students enter junior high school.  

My Research Study

With these surveys as context, I decided to conduct my own investigation of the role of reading for pleasure amongst junior high school students in the Halifax Regional Municipality, and designed a research study to investigate the following questions:
 

1. Why do young teens (aged 12-15) read for pleasure?  
   1. What role does reading for pleasure fill in their lives?
   2. What are the main barriers to reading for this age group?
   3. What are the main motivators to reading for this age group?
2. What strategies do 12-15 year olds use to select leisure reading material?
3. What do 12-15 year olds think of the public library?
   1. What role does the public library play in their lives?
   2. What are the main barriers to public library use for this age group?
   3. What are the main motivators to public library use for this age group?

I was very fortunate to obtain funding from the APLA Memorial Fund as well as from the Dalhousie University Faculty of Graduate Studies Research Development Fund to launch my investigation. This funding was invaluable in allowing me to hire an MLIS student, Megan Fitzgibbons, as a research assistant. Data collection included a survey of a sample of 900 grade 7 to 9 students in all twelve geographic districts of the Halifax Regional School Board (distributed in October 2006 and January 2007) and a series of nine focus group discussions with 68 volunteers drawn from the survey participants, which took place between March and June, 2007. Participants were drawn from rural, suburban, and urban locations within the Halifax Regional Municipality. Both phases of this research project were designed in consultation with a research officer at the Halifax Regional School Board; anonymity and confidentiality of survey respondents was assured, and the names of individual students, schools or school districts were not identified in the data collection. 

Findings

Teens and Reading
Halifax teens are reading!

This study suggests that reading for pleasure is a fairly well-established leisure pastime amongst young Halifax teens. A substantial number of respondents, 28.9%, report reading for pleasure daily and only 14.2% of respondents report that they never read for pleasure. Fiction is the most popular recreational reading material, with 69.4% of respondents reporting that they spend time reading fiction for pleasure every month. Magazines are also a popular format and almost half of all respondents, 49.4%, report reading them monthly. In short, young Halifax teens view reading positively and 78.2% of survey respondents consider themselves “active readers.” This finding contrasts positively with the HRSB finding of 55% perhaps because this survey included a very inclusive definition of reading, specifically encouraging teens to consider formats such as magazines, comics, graphic novels, etc., whereas the HRSB assessment did not include a definition of “reading” and simply asked students “How much do you read outside of school?” In the HRSB survey, respondents were left to formulate their own interpretation of what was meant by “reading” and may have defaulted to a narrow definition of “reading novels” or “reading literature.”
Self-defined reading status: what does it really mean?

In the survey, teens were asked to self-identify as “active” or “inactive” readers. Self-identified inactive readers reported spending more time watching television, using the computer and playing videogames and less time reading than did active readers but, interestingly, despite their self-identification, most of these teens apparently are doing some reading in their leisure time. While there is a strong statistically significant difference in the time spent by active and inactive readers reading books (especially fiction), magazines, and poetry, there is no statistically significant difference in the amount of time they spend reading comic books, graphic novels or websites. Clearly, most inactive readers are reading, they just aren’t reading the same things as active readers and their choice of reading material makes them self-identify as non-readers. Have they internalized a message from their teachers, their parents or their peers that their reading choices do not constitute “real” reading?
 

Time to read

Participants indicated that their favourite time to read for pleasure is in the evening, particularly just before bed. Interestingly, self-identified “inactive” readers are significantly more likely to have television sets in their bedrooms and significantly less likely to have bookshelves. It appears that if teens have television sets in their bedrooms, the likelihood is increased that they will watch television before bed rather than read. Is having a television set in the bedroom a cause or a result of inactive readers’ lower reading frequency?
 

The gender gap
 

Also of note is the apparent reading gender gap in reading habits. While this survey suggests that there is little actual gender difference in levels of active reading, girls have a significantly more positive attitude to reading overall and read significantly more fiction books , magazines and poetry whereas boys spend much more time reading comics and graphic novels.
 

Peer friendship and reading
 

Girls and boys also report dramatically different perceptions of personal influences on their reading: girls are much more likely to feel that their friends are an important influence on their reading choices whereas boys feel that their mothers are the most important influence on their reading. Many girls describe a cyclical relationship between friendship and pleasure reading: these teens read the same materials as their friends and are then able to participate in conversations about their reading and in book and magazine exchanges, which further strengthen the friendship bonds and firmly establish group membership.  

Adult mentorship and reading

Girls and boys appear to respond differently to a lack of adult reading mentorship: while adult encouragement appears to be a critical factor in turning young boys into active teen readers, it may be somewhat less critical for at least some girls. Several teen girls who describe a lack of family encouragement (or even outright discouragement) of early reading experiences are self-described avid readers. However, girls who lack early positive reinforcement for their reading habit within the family seem to be less likely to use their pleasure reading as an opportunity to make social connections later in life. The solitary nature of their early reading experiences appears to persist into their teens years; for these teen girls, reading has always been and continues to be something they do for pleasure, but in isolation, and is not a habit to be shared with either friends or family.

Teens and Public Libraries
Buying, not borrowing

Respondents report a strong preference for buying their pleasure reading material rather than borrowing it from the public library. While the vast majority, 87.5%, of respondents have a public library card, most only use the public library occasionally. Twenty-eight percent visit the public library monthly to borrow books for pleasure reading and half that number, 14%, visit the public library monthly to borrow other types of reading material (magazines, comics, newspapers).  
Attitude toward the public library

Why do teens only use the public library occasionally, preferring to buy rather than borrow their reading material?  

1. Most participants indicated having little rapport with public library staff, rating them amongst the least important of personal influences on their pleasure reading habits. Only 8% of respondents state that they think public librarians are an important influence on their choice of pleasure reading material, in contrast with mothers/female guardians, rated as a very important influence by 31.6%, and friends, rated as a very important influence by 33.2%.
 

2. A substantial number of respondents indicated that the public library does not offer programmes that are interesting for their age group: 47% of respondents stated that the library does not offer interesting programmes for teens and 22.4% indicated that they don’t know about library programmes. During focus group discussions, teens acknowledged that they usually don’t know about events at their local library branch and don’t think of the library very often. Currently, library programmes are promoted on the library website and in the library’s seasonal print in-house newsletter which is freely available within the library. However, teens rarely scan either of these sources and so frequently remain uninformed about relevant library programmes and services. More targeted and personalized promotion of library events and services could be an effective strategy to raise the profile of the public library with teen patrons.
 

3. Several teens complained that the teen book collection is too dated and “run down,” with incomplete runs of popular series books.
 

4. Teens reported never or seldom using the public library website to help them find books for pleasure reading, preferring the “value added” features provided by commercial sites such as Amazon, which allow them to track what others have found (or bought) to help in their discovery process.  
 

5. Teens frequently complained that the physical space provided for teens in their local branch was inadequate and offered many ideas (too many to report here!) for what they would like in a teen library space.
The challenges of choice

Many teens report feelings of frustration and confusion when choosing reading material. Teens, particularly those with less confidence and experience in book selection, report relying almost exclusively on elements of the book itself (title, cover art, spine) when choosing reading material. These teens often make unsatisfactory choices, which further discourages their reading habit. Many teens described feeling overwhelmed by the number of books on the library shelves and suggested that a genre-based organization would make it easier for them to find books by browsing, their normal book selection strategy.  
 
Conclusion

This was a fascinating opportunity to learn more about the role of reading for pleasure in the lives of young teens. While many of the findings of this research project are encouraging, dispelling the myth that pleasure reading has been replaced by the internet, videogames, and a wealth of other multimedia options, participants also provided many useful suggestions for how public library services could be more relevant and helpful to their age group. In conclusion, I would like to thank all the participating junior high schools, the teens who chose to take part in the study, and APLA for providing funding that made this project possible.

References

Createc. (2005). Reading and buying books for pleasure: 2005 national survey. Ottawa: Canadian Heritage. 

Halifax Regional School Board. (2006). 2006-2007 literacy assessment results. Halifax: HRSB. Retrieved 5 November 2007 from http://www.hrsb.ns.ca/content/id/219.html

National Endowment for the Arts. (2004). Reading at risk: A survey of literary reading in America. National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 18 May 2005 from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED484208&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED484208