Reading and Reader Development: The Pleasure of Reading (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Reading and Reader Development: The Pleasure of Reading Keith Swigger Reading and Reader Development: The Pleasure of Reading. By Judith Elkin, Briony Train, and Debbie Denham. London: Facet Publishing, 2003. xii, 241 pp. £39.94. ISBN 1-85604-467-X. The authors claim at the outset the ambitious tasks of refuting those who foresee the death of reading and the demise of the book and of exploring the role of reading in contemporary society. What they have accomplished is more modest but still useful. This book portrays the initiatives to increase reading skills and to improve the quality of reading experiences for persons of all ages that have been undertaken in the United Kingdom in the last dozen years. Agencies in both the public and the private sectors developed programs for persons of all ages that are collectively described by the phrase "reader development." Reader development focuses on readers rather than reading skills. The purposes of reader development are to enhance the reading experience, to make it a more pleasurable and creative act for the reader; to increase people's confidence in their reading; and to make reading a more communal activity by bringing readers together to share their experiences. The focus of reader development is pleasure reading, which the authors interpret as reading fiction. They observe that public libraries were not at the forefront of this movement, but librarians are responding by changing library culture to focus on readers rather than books. The ways in which librarians responded and additional responses they could undertake are described within the context of the broader social movements in the United Kingdom to promote reader development. Chapters of the book, each written and signed by one of the three authors, address specific aspects of reader development. Topics include a general discussion of the reader development movement; programs in the United Kingdom to encourage and support readers; a report on an IFLA survey of attitudes toward reading; and guides to implementation of reader development as a multicultural project, as a project for special populations, and as a marketing and public relations activity for libraries. The authors' approach generally is to compile and string together quotations from research studies, project reports, and rhetoricians. One sometimes feels one is reading a researcher's note cards on a topic rather than a synthesis and analysis of the subject. [End Page 342] Three themes dominate the chapters. First, the authors tirelessly celebrate reading. Reading is good. Reading will make one happy. Reading elevates. The second theme is opportunism. If society is paying attention to reading, librarians should get on board and seize the opportunity to build their status and to secure the place of libraries as critically important institutions. The third theme is social inclusiveness. Librarians should always keep in mind the political dimensions of public library service and assure that all sectors of the populations share in the benefits of library service. Readers in search of guidance concerning what librarians should do will find plenty of that here. This book doesn't relate research on reading as a cognitive activity to reader development programs. The authors' focus is on testimonials to the power of reading and reader development programs, not to research on fundamental aspects of reading such as whether the act of reading is in itself satisfying or whether it is content that gives pleasure, or how the cognitive experience of reading differs from the cognitive experience of experiencing other media. Nor do the authors present information concerning evaluations of the effectiveness of reader development programs. What they do accomplish is a presentation of a set of important library initiatives in the United Kingdom and a portrayal of how librarians and other social professionals view them. Keith Swigger Texas Woman’s University, Denton Copyright © 2004 University of Texas Press