Teenagers Talking About Reading and Libraries (Report‪)‬

Past research has found that as children reach adolescence, they become to read in their leisure time and thus visit libraries less. (1) One solution suggested to overcome this reluctance to read is the provision of a wide variety of reading materials, thus allowing choice in reading matter. (2) Reeves has found that teenagers can be highly selective in what they choose to read, but will enjoy reading when they find something they connect with. (3) One universally popular type of reading material is magazines. (4) The provision of comics and graphic novels has been presented as a tactic to encourage teenage reading. (5) While a focus on choice in reading materials is encouraging, some critics question the veracity of the reported decline in enjoyment of reading and decrease in time spent reading. (6) Much of the evidence for a decline is anecdotal, thus additional research is needed to investigate the phenomenon further. Adult influence is a determining factor in teenagers' liking for reading, whether this is influenced by parents or other adults in a teenager's life. (7) Libraries are often not a popular place for teenagers to acquire their reading material, with family or bookshops being the main sources. (8) Internet use among teenagers is ubiquitous, (9) with communication through social networking sites and instant messaging (IM) being particular favourites. (11) A survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project found students were more likely to go to the internet for school assignments than the library, (12) although there is disagreement as to whether online sources are replacing books. (13)