Saturday, November 26, 2016

The value of reading and our neglect of libraries

PUBLISHED IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, DECEMBER 3, 2016, as "Reading is a form of nutrition to the mind."
The WSJ left out the sentence about President Obama.
 
“The Need to Read” agrees with a great deal of research. Studies show that fiction readers develop the capacity to empathize with others and have a greater tolerance for vagueness. Dedicated readers also develop higher levels of literacy and have more knowledge of literature, social studies, science and even practical matters.
Studies consistently show that the quality of available libraries is associated with how much reading is done. Ironically, as our knowledge of the value of reading increases, support for school and public libraries and librarians has been decreasing. Isaac Asimov’s insight is still valid: “When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself.”
Em. Prof. Stephen Krashen
University of Southern California
Los Angeles



Original version sent to the Wall St. Journal, November 26, 2016.

Will Schwalbe's insightful essay, "The need to read," (Nov. 25) agrees with a great deal of research: Studies show that fiction readers develop the capacity to empathize with others and have a greater tolerance for vagueness. Dedicated readers also develop higher levels of literacy and have more knowledge of literature, social studies, science and even practical matters.
In an interview in the Guardian (October 28, 2015), President Obama gave fiction the credit for his understanding that "the world is complicated and full of grays ... (and that) it's possible to connect with someone else even though they're very different from you."
Studies consistently show that library quality is associated with how much reading is done. Ironically, as our knowledge of the value of reading increases, support for school and public libraries and librarians has been decreasing.
Isaac Asimov was right in 1995 and his insight is still valid: "When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself."

Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California

Original article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-need-to-read-1480083086

Sources

Interview with President Obama: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/28/president-obama-says-novels-taught-him-citizen-marilynne-robinson?CMP=share_btn_tw

Fiction and literacy development: Krashen, S 2004. The Power of Reading. Heinemann and Libraries Unlimited.  Sullivan, A. & Brown, M. 2014. Vocabulary from Adolescence to Middle Age. Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University of London

Knowledge: Stanovich, K., and A. Cunningham. 1992. Studying the consequences of literacy within a literate society: the cognitive correlates of print exposure. Memory and Cognition 20(1): 51-68.
Stanovich, K. and A. Cunningham. 1993. Where does knowledge come from? Specific associations between print exposure and information acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(2): 211-229. Stanovich, K., R. West, R., and M. Harrison. 1995. Knowledge growth and maintenance across the life span: The role of print exposure. Developmental Psychology, 31(5): 811-826. Sullivan, A. & Brown, M. (2014). Vocabulary from adolescence to middle age. London: Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University of London. West, R., and K. Stanovich. 1991. The incidental acquisition of information from reading. Psychological Science 2: 325-330. West, R., K. Stanovich, and H. Mitchell. 1993. Reading in the real world and its correlates. Reading Research QuCastano,arterly 28: 35-50.

The ability to empathize: Kidd, D. & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science, 342 (6156), 377-380.
Library quality: Krashen, S., Lee, S.Y. and McQuillan, J. 2012. Is the library important? Multivariate studies at the national and international level. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 8(1): 26-36; Krashen (2004), op. cit. Studies by Keith Curry Lance and associates at http://www.lrs.org/impact.php).
Library support: Henderson, E. and Lonegran, J. 2011. Majority of states report decline in support for library services. Institute for Museum and Library Services. Kachel, D. 2015. School libraries are under attack. The New Republic, July 23.
Asimov Quote: Asimov, I. (1995) I, Asimov. Random House.



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