Prompt Week 16: For the Love of Reading!

As a kid, I enjoyed reading. I was obsessed with the Nancy Drew and American Girl series, and remember others such as the Rainbow Fish and Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm to be among my favorites. There was, of course, the infamous Year of the Dead Dog, which my first grade teacher thought it was a great idea to read Shiloh, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Old Yeller. In the same year. That was traumatizing, and I even stopped reading for a while because of that teacher. However, I got over it eventually and got back into reading. It just shows how much influence teachers and librarians have over the enjoyment of reading! Regardless, I always participated in the Summer Reading Program at my library. As an adult, I have to say I have branched out significantly in terms of what I like to read, since taking this Readers' Advisory class. I guess I couldn't put a finger on what I actually enjoyed reading, and this class helped me define that I like World War II Historical Fiction, and the Classics, among other genres. I became more aware of the genres that are out there.

I am confused, and worried about the future of the library. In a matter of hours, I am told that I need to look elsewhere for a full-time job, and then in the same day there seems to be enough evidence that will compel me to stick to my career. There are so many mixed signals that I am getting, that I am unsure of where all this is headed. Sometimes I have to help patrons who are angry because of accruing fines on their accounts, and they sometimes tell me they won’t be coming back. On the other hand, I get patrons who tell me they will always want a physical book to read. It seems more frequently that even children are spending less time reading and more time on their phones or other devices, and teens are doing the same. A lot of patrons are in the library just to use the patron computers. Children and teens are two age groups are very important to reach in public library programming. The article Reading is In Decline: If Not You, Then Who? by Paula Wilson was written not very long ago, in 2017. Wilson (2017) states,

Only 51 percent of children said they love or like reading books for fun, compared to 58 percent in 2012 and 60 percent in 2010, and reading enjoyment declines sharply after age eight, according to Scholastic’s The State of Kids & Reading [3] (1).

If we cannot reach these demographics, I picture a domino effect for the rest of the programming in public libraries, for certain.

In the technology age, it seems like the public library is overcome with technology, and a lot of the patrons are using e-books and Audible more than they frequent the actual library building. Plus, the nightmare of the Retail Apocalypse is not comforting, either. While there are the usual clothing stores like Macy's and others that are closing its doors, so are bookstores. Borders was among the first to close, and now people are predicting that Barnes and Noble may not be far behind. The New Yorker published an article labeled What Barnes and Noble Doesn’t Get About Bookstores, by David Sax (2018), states,

The key question for Riggio now is figuring out what purpose Barnes & Noble serves today. Amazon dominates the industry with low prices and a vast selection and is even flirting with brick-and-mortar bookstores, having opened two in the past year. Independent bookstores—once assumed to be on their way to extinction—own the romantic notion of a bookstore as a place, like a church or a social club, where communities are nurtured. Barnes & Noble is stuck in the middle, a giant saddled with hundreds of huge stores, and an image of corporate sameness in a market that has increasingly come to treasure defiantly independent bookstores (1).

With the rise of audiobooks sellers such as Audible, and e-books, and general lack of funding, who is not to suggest that libraries are at risk of closure, too? One would think that, if patrons were angry enough about fines, they would just buy books at Barnes and Noble instead. 

A third area of concern for me is that library schools seem to be graduating a lot of librarians. This is fantastic, and I am happy that there is still an interest and always like meeting new friends and colleagues in my classes, but, from what I could see, there aren’t enough full-time jobs to go around, and the library job market is highly competitive. How do I set myself apart from the rest of the librarians who are wanting the same job as me? How do I get my foot in the door? How do I gain experience in a position that requires leadership, but the volunteer opportunities that are available do not provide chances to gain leadership skills? Most importantly, how do I prove that my age does not reflect my skill set or experience level? 

If anyone could disprove my concerns, and shed some light on them, I would be happy and completely grateful. I do know being in libraries is exactly where I need to be.  To quote The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I just hope that “the odds will be forever in my favor” for finding a full-time job when I graduate!

Works Cited

Sax, D. (2016). What Barnes and Noble Doesn’t Get About Bookstores. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/what-barnes-noble-doesnt-get-about-bookstores.

Wilson, P. (2017). Reading Is in Decline: If Not You, Then Who?. Retrieved from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017/01/reading-is-in-decline-if-not-you-then-who/.