By Michelle Mears, Rolling Hills Library Director
Those of us who read regularly, both for information and for enjoyment, have a sense that it has opened our eyes to the world in ways we can’t always explain. It’s hard to articulate how reading murder mysteries or celebrity biographies makes us better people, but it does. It puts us in the shoes of other people and helps us develop a greater understanding of life.
There isn’t a great deal of research on this because it is not easily studied. Empathy in general is a fuzzy concept, the ability to feel what others are feeling and understand the way that they experience the world is not like riding a bicycle. It doesn’t just “click” one day and then you never fall down again. It has been shown that people who read stories, both fictional narratives and historical or biographical texts, tend to exhibit more empathy towards others and report that they feel transported into the story, that they are emotionally involved, and that they identify with the characters. The result is what they call a “sleeper effect,” something that manifests over time without the conscious knowledge of the person experiencing it.
We are certainly in a time when we need to encourage people to have a greater understanding of each other. Unfortunately, people are moving away from spending extended time with narrative stories in favor of short reads and online videos of less than a minute. Reading comprehension was in decline long before the pandemic, but time out of school and a lack of support at home has made it worse.
So how do we get people, and especially kids, to be readers again? Parents need to understand they are their children’s first teacher. They cannot wait until kindergarten to start. They should be sending kids to school with some basic pre-literacy skills and recognition of letters and numbers. Reading books aloud with children and letting them use devices for educational games (not mindless videos) helps build reading skills. And kids need to see adults reading to show reading is valued in your home.
Will reading save the world? It won’t happen overnight, and we need to stay vigilant against the forces that want to stop people from reading or only let them read certain things. The solutions to the world’s problems will always involve reading more and not less. Fighting bigotry, racism, and sexism is helped by experiencing stories from people of all races and genders. Help your kids develop the connections they need to the communities they live in by reading. It doesn’t need to be award-winning literature. Fluency, comprehension, and understanding will grow no matter what you read as long as you read — and read a lot.
