Library News
August’s Director’s Note
“The world was hers for the reading.” –Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
As I head off on vacation next week, I am loading up my suitcase with several paperbacks and my phone with still more books to read and listen to. I won’t get to all of them, but what’s better that having the leisure time to select what you feel like reading at the moment? Like many of you, I am both a reader and a listener of books. During my day-to-day–commuting, cleaning house, walking for exercise—I reach for an audiobook, and these are usually lighter titles, mysteries, thrillers and sometimes non-fiction. When I have time to sit down and immerse myself into a physical book, that is when I delve into my ever-growing pile of titles that require deep reading.
In a recent opinion piece by UK journalist Mary Harrington in the New York Times, the increase of smartphone usage is leading to the demise of this type of long-form, complex reading. As more and more people limit their reading to media consumption through small, “byte”-size pieces, images and short video formats, everything from the ability to concentrate, to the ability to reason, suffers. Harrington goes on to state that those living in poverty will be disproportionately affected by this culture of “post literacy”. The picture she paints of a society where people have given up (or never learned) to read deeply is dire.
As a librarian, I’m a big believer in reading to escape, and I’ll have my share of beach reads on this trip. But I’ll also be bringing Madeline Thien’s The Book of Records, and Robert Macfarlane’s Is a River Alive. After all, having the time to think deeply about the world is something to appreciate. Maybe you, too, will be inspired to reach for a longer, more complex book this summer—a book to get lost in, a book to think deeply about or one that changes you after reading it. The library is the perfect place to find your book this summer—hope to see you there!
Happy reading,
-Cynthia