I associate "literary reading" with choice. Good golly, think about the choices we have to fill our time. So, it is not surprising that I'm in the group that is doing less literary reading than I did ten years ago.
Marketing I was intrigued by the librarian's idea that the need to change in marketing books. Book talks, posters, and author features have been in the librarian's bag of tricks forever. Maybe a look at how competing media such as audio and video attract customers? I think a large proportion of students only see books at school. So, what if book marketing was more aggressive and was better designed to hook target demographics? Maybe kids think of the library as a dead place. What if libraries were dazzling rather than quiet spaces with leather-lined walls? A comment posted on the article also seems to echo the need for better understanding of marketing: "As librarians, do we meet the needs they actually have, or attempt to train them to be something they aren't. In my experience much of the trouble is in our own minds." "Kids! I don't know what's wrong with those kids today!" Many of the posted comments seemed to echo the idea that the fault lies with the kids who have no attention span, resist what's "good for them", and are slackers. I think that the student voice is sadly lacking in education. When I read the article, comments, and the report, I hear the voices of educated adults (most probably white, male, middle/upper class?). Why isn't there more of an effort to really get ideas from students or minority groups? It occurs to me that kids might have better ideas for improvements than PhD's. Actually Reading More? I wonder if adults actually read MORE? As an example, I see Bill's post about the article. I take the link to read article and then the all of the comments. Then I find the entire report (2004) at http://www.arts.gov/news/news04/ReadingAtRisk.html. I just made a choice/investment in reading that didn't include "literary reading". I didn't have this choice 10 years ago. Keith Mack [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.literacyworkshop.org _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
