In my first Shelf Space post, I mentioned that one way to give children the gift of reading is to “Demonstrate a culture that values reading, all types of reading.” There’s been a great response to the article, and especially to that sentence (see this post at Finding Wonderland, for example). So I thought that I would discuss the idea of creating a culture of reading in more detail.

Creating a culture of reading is about more than just setting an example for children (though that’s clearly something that I think is important). Creating a culture of reading is about deciding what kind of a world we want to be part of. Do we want to live in a society that values books and reading, or not? The alternative, living in a society in which libraries fall into disuse and reading is a marginalized activity, is unthinkable. If our culture values reading, then people and libraries will continue to buy books. Publishers will continue to publish them, and authors will continue to write them. We’ll continue to have great stories at our fingertips. We’ll also have an ongoing exchange of ideas. People will use books to learn about other cultures and other viewpoints. Literate, educated members of society will ask more of our leaders, and be less likely to leave poor decisions unchallenged. A culture of reading is a culture of imagination and understanding.

Even people who don’t read for pleasure themselves benefit from a culture that values books and reading. The movie and television industries have more great books to choose from. The kids who grow up loving books get more out of their educations, and are more likely to accomplish great things. There is even evidence to suggest that kids who are good readers are less likely to end up on the wrong side of the criminal justice system. If we invest in raising readers now, we’re likely to save later, by having to support fewer inmates. The rewards of a literate society are endless.

Our current society does place value on literacy, of course. Our medical schools, law schools, and business schools are filled with people who are proficient readers. But I believe that we have a long way to go here in creating a culture that truly values books and reading. Many other countries have even further to go. If you are so motivated, here are a few things that you can do to help.

If you want to create a culture of reading, you can …

Buy books for the holidays: There’s a cross-blog initiative going on right now, organized by Amy from My Friend Amy, encouraging people to buys books as holiday gifts this year. There’s a special Books for the Holidays Blog, which Amy describes as “a collaborative blog that will showcase books, serve as a central point where we can all report our progress, give bloggers a chance to showcase reviews by genre, help people find the perfect book for that difficult or challenging person on your list, announce internet or bookstore specials, and raise awareness of literacy charities to promote a culture of reading in the future.” I really do think that by giving the people in our lives books as gifts, we help to demonstrate a culture of reading within our own personal communities.

Prioritize reading in your life: Turn off the TV. Make time to visit the library. Keep a book with you for times when you’re stuck in traffic. Listen to audiobooks on road trips, or while you’re folding laundry or doing the dishes. Even those of us who are voracious readers are susceptible to the pull of other things, from blogging to errands to playing solitaire on the computer, and a million other things in between. But the truth is that if we really WANT to read, we can usually find some time for it, if we look hard enough.

Support an organization that puts books into needy people’s hands: If we truly want a world-wide culture of reading, then we must help more people to gain access to books, especially children. Here are just a few ideas:

•    Every December I donate books to the San Jose Mercury News Gift of Reading program. The program accepts donations of like-new books and distributes them to under-served children and to classroom libraries. Wherever you live, there’s bound to be some program like this. Or you can donate books to a library, school, Ronald McDonald house, or local hospital. (For a specific idea about donating books, see this post from Charlotte’s Library.)
•    There are many other wonderful programs that put books into people’s hands, including First Book, Reading is Fundamental, Reach Out and Read, Room to Read, and Cops ‘N Kids. (You can find a list of several others in the right-hand sidebar of my blog.) Most of these programs welcome donations of money or time (and sometimes books – you need to check with the individual program).
•    I especially wanted to mention the Ethiopia Reads program, which strives to “create a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books.” Program founder Yohannes Gebregeorgis is currently in the running for CNN hero of the year. It would certainly demonstrate that we have a culture of reading in the US if our hero of the year turned out to be the founder of a literacy program. (Voting, alas, ended November 20th). In general, bringing people like Gebregeorgis to the public’s attention is a way to support a culture of reading.

Work on raising the next generation of readers: I already talked about this in detail in my first Shelf Space post, but the general idea is worth repeating. Anything that you can do to help the children in your life to respect and appreciate books and to find reading fun will reap tremendous dividends.

What do you all think? What are other ways that we can encourage a culture of reading?

Special thanks to Tanita Davis for inspiring this article, through her words in support of a culture of reading.

Posted by: Jen Robinson