Towards a reading society

Lionel Wijesiri

Adolf Hitler made everybody buy a copy of Mein Kampf so that the people could understand his vision and appreciate it. Martin Luther translated the Bible into German and wrote his own interpretation of how things should be so that the people could read about it. Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto which inspired so many people that it is almost unbelievable.

But in Sri Lanka we have missed out on the significance of the printing press big time. Although, as a country, we have a high literacy rate and a good educational system, the reading habit has not developed as it should. During the past five decades, various campaigns were launched to improve the situation but there is still a need for a more perceptive understanding of the reasons for the lack of the reading habit in Sri Lanka.

No self-respecting education official today would dare question the importance of the literacy strategies that abound in our school system across the country. After all, a nation that doesn’t value literacy seems destined to fail. But is it enough? We take the view that in any democracy that aspires to fully engage all its members, literacy as a goal is necessary, but far from sufficient.

Critical thinking

Sri Lankan parents, teachers and policy-makers must aim well beyond delivering mere functional proficiency with the dominant language. As many other countries are now doing, we should aspire to build a reading society that situates critical thinking as the cornerstone of the education system.

Indeed, if literacy is the appetizer, then reading - for pleasure, knowledge, wisdom and the responsibilities of citizenship - is the nourishing main course.

But increasingly, it seems we have convinced ourselves that our children and youth can get by on a diet of intellectual snack food. Off the top of my head, just last year and entirely through fiction, I have learnt about consciousness, about Tudor society and the role of Thomas Cromwell, the gritty underside of American ‘dream’, about mathematicians and the behaviour of chimpanzees, about sexual ambiguity and genetics. Looking back, I feel contented.

What I fear most is that, when we no longer read, we lose the ability to enter different worlds, to place ourselves in other people’s shoes. Nothing makes us identify with other people quite like accompanying them on a life journey. In the same spirit, I fear that a society that doesn’t read is a society that lacks empathy.

Average reader

We cannot force people to read, but we can encourage it, particularly in childhood, when the habit is often set. So libraries are not a waste of money. And books in schools are essential.

Two months back, I met a group of young business executives. When questioned, they claimed they wouldn’t read for entertainment, but only for self-improvement. I do not see anything wrong in that. But to be a reading society, it needs to be sustainable. I asked them a question. “How many of you would sneak off early from a party because you can’t wait to get back into ‘How to make a Success of My Life?’.” You guessed it right - none. We are a nation of many established book and magazine publishers and we have produced several award winners in Literature, though not all of them are native language. In that context, we are a blessed nation.

Recently, I went into 3 bookstores, all of them outstation, when I found many students and their parents buying school textbooks and revision courses. Later I chatted with the store-owners and they told me that at their stores, only such books could sell. Many of the other types of books just could not sell more than 3 or 4 copies per title.

Naturally, one doesn’t expect the average adult reader to read books on evolution biology, Zen Buddhism, I-Ching, the pros and cons of taking soft drugs, and other esoteric or erudite titles. It is fine if you don’t read books by Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker or Carl Sagan, or, for that matter, Emberto Eco. But it is one thing if you don’t read these more specialist writers and quite another if you don’t read at all.

I do find little comfort in the fact that though not many of our young adults are reading, or to be more specific, reading hard copies of books, they are ‘browsing’ the new form of reading materials in cyberspace. They are now reading e-books, ezines, blogs, and the contents of websites on their monitor screens or their digital book-readers. Such a development, though not yet pandemic, is now epidemic at least among a large group of our youngsters. So much for technology and progress!

It is time that, educators, librarians, policy-makers, publishers, writers and literacy advocates of all stripes come together to discuss and debate just what it would take to transform Sri Lanka into a reading society. It is a proven fact that a literate and reading culture supports a creative, healthy, successful and dynamic society. So what we need today are ideas, examples and approaches to laying the groundwork for national reading strategies that are coordinated, sustainable and far-reaching.

There are few fundamental principles that ensure broad and universal access to varied reading materials, wherever and whenever people need them. Reading and reading material should always be available and affordable.

To state the obvious, where there are limited or no reading materials or if they are beyond reach of the common person, there will be no or limited reading.

To put this in business language, it’s critical that support be provided for both the production and the distribution sides of the equation. In Sri Lanka, supporting production means supporting Sri Lankan writers and the Sri Lankan publishing industry. On the distribution side, it means supporting booksellers and all types of libraries (public, academic, school, etc).

The government should develop a Books Policy that argues for enriched library collections and enhanced support for the writers, publishers and independent bookstores so that access to books is maximised at reasonable prices.

Lending books

One of the many worthy reading initiatives is to focus on “lending books to people who otherwise could not afford them.” However, when viewed in Sri Lankan context, the number of books available from the Public libraries is limited, and the relevancy of the materials to their audience cannot be guaranteed. A better approach is to make a public investment in books that ensures a combination of universal access, diversity of material, and choice. Only the Government can make this kind of an investment. Promote reading for enjoyment and create reading spaces and places.

Research has shown that reading for pleasure stimulates the imagination of readers and awakening their emotions. Not surprisingly, the positive emotions associated with reading for pleasure feed a desire for further reading, so creating opportunities, spaces, places and times for reading that’s fun and enjoyable.

Initiatives abound, from the more traditional author readings, book festivals and literary awards, to innovative community read events. Some countries have declared a National Month of Reading, and in South Africa, they have dedicated a half hour each school day to “Drop All and Read”, where everyone — from principal to teacher to student — drops everything and reads.

Don’t privilege particular forms of reading Who’s to say that reading the Pulitzer Prize winner is of intrinsically greater value than reading the Driver’s License Handbook? Who’s to say that reading The Newsweek in print is better than reading your favourite blogger online? Reading is reading, and we risk alienating, marginalizing or undeserving large constituencies in our country if we build a national reading strategy that privileges particular types or forms of reading over others.

If Sri Lanka is going to get serious about transforming itself into a reading society - and it should - the groundwork needs to be laid for a National Reading Strategy. As demographic, technological and global changes abound, champions for reading must continue to work towards creating welcoming literacy-friendly environments; generating new ways of promoting the joys and pleasures of reading; and most importantly, providing affordability and accessibility to the materials we want to read, in the places and spaces we want to read them.