#479: The End of Reading?

Have we reached the post-literate age? Or are old people just complaining again?

Dear Loyal Readers,

Last week’s lead article, “Women Have Been Misled About Menopause,” prompted a deluge of kind words, emails, and phone calls. Thank you for reaching out and sharing that the piece connected with you.

This week, we’re focusing on a topic near and dear to my heart: the state of reading. It’s an understatement when I say I’m a fan of reading. After all, I publish this newsletter, lead a reading nonprofit, support teachers to promote literacy, and extol the virtues of reading to anyone who will listen.

The past few months, I’ve noticed an uptick in voices claiming that young people don’t or can’t read anymore. Much of this sentiment is not new. Every generation, when they’re no longer young, likes to complain about young people. (If you want an article to go viral, the best recipe is to blame teachers without providing evidence.)

Because there’s so much bad writing out there about the fall of reading, I want to share a few articles that might ground us in thoughtful, productive conversations.

Today’s lead article — “Is This The End of Reading?” — is also our February article of the month. It’s written by Beth McMurtrie, whom I selected Best Author of 2024. Ms. McMurtrie is a real reporter; she steers clear of the sensational. This won’t be a gossip column about Lucy Calkins or a hatchet job on the Science of Reading. I highly recommend it, especially if you are a parent, educator, or advocate of reading. If the piece resonates with you, I invite you to our discussion on Feb. 23. You can find out more information below.

If that article does not catch your interest, never fear. Choose between:

• an article exploring the effects of artificial intelligence on reading

• an article reminding us of the benefits of reading, in case we forget

If you like what we’re doing here at Article Club, and want to support this venture with a paid subscription, I would be very grateful. It’s $5 a month or $36 a year.

1️⃣ Is This The End Of Reading?

Some of this, we’ve heard before: Young people aren’t reading as much, and they’re not as skilled in reading, so they’re coming to class unprepared to read complex texts. Whether or not this is true, or a new phenomenon, it certainly doesn’t help to bemoan the state of reading without trying to do something about it.

That’s why I appreciated this article so much. Reporter Beth McMurtrie follows college professors as they grapple with how to teach their students in a post-print world. After all, as one professor says, “If you design a class based on the assumption that students will do the reading, you’ll get nowhere.”

After listing a litany of causes that explain the decline of reading — here we go: smartphones, the pandemic, poor reading instruction, testing culture, less homework in schools, less writing in schools, grade inflation, anxiety, isolation, that school is boring, that parents don’t read to their children, and more — Ms. McMurtrie focuses on the successes and failures of real teachers doing the real work. It’s not all happy and triumphant. “We all kind of feel lost these days,” one professor says.

➡️ In case you’re interested, here’s my hand-written annotated version.

By Beth McMurtrie • The Chronicle of Higher Education • 18 min • Gift Link

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2️⃣ Come join our discussion on February 23

I’m happy to announce that we will be discussing “Is This The End of Reading” on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT, on Zoom.

I warmly invite you to participate this month in our deep dive and to join the discussion. Everyone is welcome to sign up. This is how it’ll go:

• We’ll sign up by clicking the button below

• We’ll read and annotate the article together on this shared Google Doc

• We’ll listen to an interview with author Beth McMurtrie (coming next week)

• We’ll gather on Zoom to discuss the article in facilitated small groups

Are you interested? I hope so.

If this will be your first time (this is most of you!), rest assured: Like you, Article Club readers are kind and thoughtful. We love the best writing that’s out there, and we appreciate building connection and empathy across difference. If you have any questions, hit reply or email me at mark@articleclub.org.

Morris, who belongs to loyal reader Janine, would prefer having fewer dogs in this newsletter. Please nominate yours for publication: hltr.co/pets

3️⃣ When AI Does The Reading For Students

We know this to be true: ChatGPT is writing our kids’ essays. It doesn’t matter what we do. Pretty soon, unless we bring back Blue Books, generative AI will complete a larger percentage of writing assignments than our students themselves.

But what if the computers do the reading, too? It’s already happening. Google NotebookLM is like CliffsNotes on steroids. Young people won’t have to fake that they’ve done the reading. They’ll just say their digital companion has prepared for them a summary brief. After all, why suffer for hours, slogging through text, when technology will do the grunt work for you?

By Marc Watkins • The Chronicle of Higher Education • 6 min • Gift Link

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4️⃣ The Need To Read

Whenever I feel hopeless about the future of reading, I return to this piece, which loyal reader Lynn recommended in November 2016. Will Schwalbe reminds us why we read and why we should strive to continue to do so. Here’s one of my favorite passages:

Books remain one of the strongest bulwarks we have against tyranny — but only as long as people are free to read all different kinds of books, and only as long as they actually do so. The right to read whatever you want whenever you want is one of the fundamental rights that helps preserve all the other rights. It’s a right we need to guard with unwavering diligence. But it’s also a right we can guard with pleasure. Reading isn’t just a strike against narrowness, mind control and domination: It’s one of the world’s great joys.

Yes, this is an ode to reading, and a bit syrupy at times, but I feel like that’s what we need right now. Unless we state with conviction that reading is important, and what reading is for, I’m afraid we might lose it as part of our culture, entirely and forever.

By Will Schwalbe • The Wall Street Journal • 12 min • Gift Link

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