PrintFive hundred years ago, Gutenberg’s printing press sparked a literary revolution—a fury of mass reading. Reading a printed book hasn’t been a novelty in centuries, but today even the simple pleasure of physically turning pages appears to be waning. Instead of picking up a novel to read in their spare time, many Columbians choose to browse their Facebook newsfeed or to watch YouTube videos. Students are already pressed for time with all the required reading for class. This lack of time and rise of new media both contribute to the decline in leisure-reading.
Reading for pleasure can be a guilt trip. “Sometimes I read fiction, but I really feel like I’m procrastinating,” Andrea Gallardo, a senior in CC, says. For “leisure reading,” Gallardo prefers to read material related to her majors, philosophy and social anthropology. “It seems like it’s good to read that kind of stuff [fiction], but it’s not necessarily useful if you’re supposed to do a paper on another book.” Reading for pleasure seems to lose its value as it becomes overshadowed by academics. “You’re just like, ‘This is for fun, but I have so many credits to do, and I’m not getting credit for this,’ and then you just forget about it,” Ayo Alston-Moore, a junior in CC, says.
Even though many Columbia students may be too busy for leisure reading, there is a lingering, yet resolute, impulse to do so. “I remember that one assignment for an art class was just ‘go to Avery and go through their sculpture section and just pick up the books—anything, whatever strikes you’ … I went and I ended up skipping class to do this so I can just browse books for two hours. It was an amazing experience and I haven’t repeated it yet, but I want to, I just don’t have time to do that,” Alston-Moore reminisces, confirming that even time-pressed students still enjoy reading. Lack of time does not translate into lack of enthusiasm for reading. Claudia Gallego, a junior in CC, agrees that students long to read books outside of class. “When I talk to most people, they’re mostly frustrated that they don’t have time to read. It’s a general feeling.”
Others balk at the prospect of reading for pleasure, preferring to spend leisure time on social activities. “Some people like to blow off steam going out; other people probably just like staying in with a good book. I personally don’t know too many of them,” Caitlin Sigler, a senior in GS, remarks. Leisure-reading, though seen as one of the nobler hobbies, does ultimately depend on individual preference and personality. “I really do feel like it’s about prioritization and what extracurricular activity is going to make someone feel the best … there are people out there who would love to sit down with a book after a long day,” Sigler says.
It’s true—Columbians who are earnest about leisure reading and who deliberately make time for it do exist. “I’m critiqued by my friends for the fact that I like to read for enjoyment. I don’t get it. How can you not want to read?” Evan McGee, a first-year in GS, asks. “I think it engages you in a certain way that TV and other things can’t compare.”
Indeed, television and the Internet have filled the spot in leisure time that books have traditionally claimed. “Imagination isn’t stoked [with TV] like in a book, where you have to create the images. The book gives you an outline, but you create the rest. TV? It does all the work for you. We need imagination,” McGee concludes. Mary Cargill, a reference librarian at Butler Library, also emphasizes the importance of creative thinking. “Any kind of reading where you can use your imagination, I think, is better for your brain than watching the most serious documentary in the world where things are just given to you.” Whether we are catching up with the latest TV episodes on Hulu or reading the latest additions on My Life Is Average, these fragmented spoon-fed entertainments certainly lack the qualities of a good ol’ fashioned novel.
Will the declining practice of reading for pleasure be able to make a comeback? Columbia students are pessimistic. “Unfortunately, I think we’re doomed,” McGee says with a laugh, referring to the helplessness of devout readers in the face of what appears to be the end of casual reading as we know it. “I think we’re literally creating little ADHD-like type [people] with short attention spans.”
Cargill, however, expresses hope for a current generation of overworked college students with barely any time for leisure reading beyond required school texts. “When I was in college, I didn’t have time for leisure reading either, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t read now,” she says. “It’s too bad,” Cargill continues, “you don’t know what you’re missing.”