My local library asks if I’d like a receipt when I checkout books. As of July 17, I have saved a total of $2,645.32. That’s a huge savings. I purchase an occasional book, but only if it’s a classic and I can share it with my grandchildren. Last year I saved $4,879. I love the library!
Great piece, Jess. It is interesting that many of those wanting to ban books haven’t read them. I wonder how many Americans haven’t read a book OR a newspaper in past year. There has to be a link to number of Americans who vote and act as crazy as we are seeing!!!
I also check out an occasional DVD from the library. My grandsons are theater geeks - they are in choir, theater, and they play guitar. I rented the movie Billy Elliot for them to watch so they could see that not all boys are jocks.
Ladies, excellent comments! By reading a book daily, I show my jock stepson that brains and brawn go together like ham and eggs. I dig books and college/high school sports the most. And classical music. I have two books awaiting me at the library. Kim, I was a choir/theater boy and man and announced varsity games in high school and still do. No brag.
Brains and brawn indeed go together! My son in law is a contractor, and he has taken my grandsons to help him at worksites this summer. Both of my grandsons tried baseball and soccer, but they weren’t crazy about it. My daughter is a sped teacher and she keeps on top of what books they’re reading.
I have volunteered for the main branch annual book sale this year on August 7 and 8th. All books, audiobooks, CDs, and DVDs will be on sale for $1. I’ll probably go home with a huge pile.
Would you mind sharing the name of the library so I could ask how our small, rural library that relies on donations for most of its funding could show its value to book borrowers and hopefully up their donations. Thanks for sharing a great idea.
I live in Lake County Indiana. A very blue dot in a crappy red state. (We live about 20 miles from Chicago, on the southern tip of Lake Michigan. We get their news, we’re on the same time zone, and the rest Indiana is eastern time zone). We work and play in Chicago for higher wages, theaters, opera, museums, and sports, but we smart ones live just over the state line for lower property taxes. Our entire county library system uses the receipts system.
I feel very sad when I read this article, but I understand the reality of it. While I believe totally in climate change and the effect it has on us and our environment, I think the phenomenons are the same. We are in a constant state of flux on this planet, and history has proven this to be so; what we will experience in our lifetime is only a speck of it. However, it is our great loss if, in our lifetime, we forsake the possibilities that reading provides and give up the opportunities to escape to a world of our imaginations that is a great deal more vast and varied than our own.
Reading. A chance to slow the mind. Put the book down and pick it up again as you process. I have made it a habit (though I broke it just last week) to read a fiction and then a non-fiction, usually historical novel. Sometimes both are barn burners but if the fiction is slow, I move on to another book after 50 pages. There are too many books in the world waiting for me to have me plod through garbage. Anyway, I CLEARLY am an outlier. And I totally encourage ALL to read. Daily. And with vigor.
Wow! Jess, first of all, I'm glad you're ok! That accident is so scary. And secondly, thank you so much for writing this. I confess I don't read as much as I used to, but I still find time to squeeze in a book now and then. I usually download to my phone and read while I'm waiting at a dealership or a doctor's office. Seems these days I'm always waiting somewhere, and my phone is the handiest way to always have something to read. I'm reading more political information and history than fiction, but sometimes I need the escape a good fiction book brings. Thanks again for your message. Stay safe out there. We need you!
I worked in the public library for 30 years. I got to see all the new books come across the desk and I would jot down the titles I wanted to read on a little slip of paper I'd keep in my wallet. I always had a book with me at lunchtime and on my breaks, so I had an hour and a half of dedicated reading time five days a week. When I left the library, I left the books behind, too. Now, I read the news online, along with several wonderful Substacks (like this one). I did finish an ebook not long ago - "My Effin' Life" by Rush's Geddy Lee. The ebook was great, but I found that I missed holding a real book in my hands. I missed the heft, I missed the smell of the pages, I missed the sound of turning the pages. I even missed having a cool bookmark to keep my place. I realized that reading a real book was a tactile experience, too.
I miss all of these things about reading books, but I haven't gone back to them. Your essay, Jess, reminded me of what I have been missing and what I had forgotten. Thanks for that.
I loved your comment about cool bookmarks. We try to go to see live music as often as possible, and they used to provide actual tickets to events (nowdays it all tends to be on phones). My husband saves those tickets, and they get used as bookmarks. It's cool to stumble across reminders of some great concerts and musicians.
Likewise, although I am inching back. I again keep a book or two in my truck (I am the transport service for friends who need a ride to doctor's appointments) and will read in the truck whilst I wait.
NORM (as the patrons hollered when Norm entered the "Cheers" bar)! You summed up beautifully the many THINGS I love about reading. Same for me with the Sunday NY Times and the heavy and lightweight books I read.
I subscribe to Kindle Unlimited and read on the phone app, so I always have a stack of books in my pocket wherever I go. I also avail myself of the e-books available for free through the St Louis County Library. As I have gotten older, holding a heavy book in my hands has lost a lot of appeal. But my phone is light weight and I can read in the dark, too.
Two years ago, I moved from a blue state to a southern red state. In several situations where I live now when a cashier had to give me change for a $20, they were unable to do so. The country we are creating for our children and future generations is not one that will be able to compete on a global scale. Education is the key to cultural advancement of a society. Reading is the foundation of education. But I have hope Jess that everything we see slipping away will soon return to center stage as priorities for society. I Hold Onto to that Positive Eventuality.
Also gotta mention Vonnegut's short-short caustic slap of social commentary, "The Big Space F*ck", anthologized in Harlan Ellison's "Dangerous Visions". Profoundly rude, irreverent & HILARIOUS!
I grew up in a rural area where we went “to town” only when necessary or about once a month and to the city only twice a year. There was no television only radio at home but there were books. As a child, when we did go to town, I was dropped off at the town library while my parents did the shopping. The librarians were kind and helped me pick out books. They let me check out more than the two book limit because I always brought them back. If they weren’t busy, the librarian on duty would ask me what I thought about the story. I thought books were magical. I could be a princess or a cowgirl or be on a submarine going to the bottom of the sea. My parents never restricted what I read for which I am grateful. If I didn’t know a word, I looked it up in the old thick dictionary. I still love to read and, thankfully, instilled that love of reading in my children. We still share titles of books we read. Those early years of being read to and then learning to read and sharing the story with others are priceless gifts. At the risk of sounding like the old lady I am, maybe instead of scrolling or turning on the tv, spend the time reading as a family and sharing your thoughts about the books you read.
Notable that these “parental rights” politicians are throwing a fit over parents choosing to take their kids to a totally optional story time. Sen. Brattin, as chair of the MO Senate Education committee, has been openly hostile to education, unless it’s his choice of education: home schooling.
Like you, I approached the article with hesitation. I didn't want to admit to myself that I've not only seen it within my community, but also even within my own social circle. People no longer discuss the amazing book they've been reading- instead they share a five second clip from Tik Tok.
I have a neurological condition now that prevents me from reading as voraciously as I used to, even just as few as five years ago. I've had to turn to audio books more and more, but I'd like to think they allow me to absorb myself in something completely, just like physical reading does, while still supporting literature and authors.
I, too, was a teacher. It breaks my heart that people are attacking books out of their own ignorance, preventing children an opportunity to experience the magic that literacy and comprehension bring to their lives.
Here in NH, we had a similar situation to yours in MO- we had a lawmaker (MAGA of course), who wanted a certain book banned. When he was asked if he had read the book, he said he hadn't. Preventing others from that experience all because of his ignorance and hate. Thankfully, that nonsense was shut down quickly.
I avoid social media now- I try my best to stay informed through respected, truthful outlets, and I'm trying to support authors by purchasing their physical or audiobooks.
My heart breaks at all the stories waiting to be read that might now end up forever quiet.
I have turned into an avid audiobook consumer as well. It fits in with my busy life, but I have noticed that it doesn’t create the same deep feelings I have when I physically hold and read a book. Solidarity, friend.❤️
I have a dear friend who has been living with a myriad of physical problems for 25 years; she was finally diagnosed with untreated Lyme Disease she had acquired in her 20's following a hike in the Northeast.
She was (and is again) an avid reader. When she was in the worst of her brain fog (20 or so years ago) she was unable to read. She would often either lie in bed, or sit on her couch just holding a book "for the comfort". I am happy to report she is able to read again, even if it is a struggle.
I love a good audiobook! A good reader can really bring a novel alive. I have listened and been enthralled by books I am pretty sure I would never have been able to plow through with my eyes. I just finished the audiobook version of All the Light We Cannot See, and I was so immersed in the world created that it took a day to emerge. But I'm not sure I would've made it through reading it (probably? It's a really good book! But thick with description--). Years ago I listened to Moll Flanders on a long car trip, another immersive experience, but one that I wouldn't have managed reading it for myself. The archaic language would likely have defeated me (kind of like watching vs reading Shakespeare). Anyway, I know I have not the patience or attention span that I had when I was young. But I, when young, did not have the barrage of visual distraction that kids today are hit with from birth. Television didn't even come into the house until I was 5.
Not subscribing to the Atlantic, I haven't read the article, but I wonder: are the trends it cites worldwide, or merely US based? I know digital media are globally used, but I don't think at the same rate or in the same way. Are we facing a new dark age everywhere, or just here?
I read!! All the time!!! My kids read!! Everyone I know reads all the time!! Hope that makes you feel better. (I couldn't read The Atlantic piece though. The headline was enough to bum me out. Good for you for listening to it.)
Jess ... I am a retired teacher entering my 4th year of retirement. I read only what was required of me for my first 59 years of life because it was just hard. I found that out early in my school years that comprehension was not a strength. Reading and re-reading content was a go-to that I did all all the time. I found ways to cope with this weakness of mine and it served me well during my teaching career. Although I wasn't confident enough to seek out reading for pleasure, I really enjoyed small group reading during my years teaching elementary because it forced me to read novels. I found out that once I got into the text, it was very rewarding to understand characters and the plot/twists of any given book.
As to my current life after school ... I have read more for pleasure than my other 59 years. I read lots of articles on Substack or as I call it, The Stack. Still not a big book reader, but text is in front of my everyday! I feel really great about this! I have always loved words and my current life post teaching has proven that to me time and again!
In Iowa just as our state legislators were digging deep into teachers not teaching “controversial” books a few years back, I was so impressed when a grandkid complained about reading “Fahrenheit 451.” Way to go, teacher! I read it with him since too many years since my high school days reading it for me to remember details. Good reminder for me too. We have to elect local officials who will protect our city libraries and who will choose good people for library boards.
My local library asks if I’d like a receipt when I checkout books. As of July 17, I have saved a total of $2,645.32. That’s a huge savings. I purchase an occasional book, but only if it’s a classic and I can share it with my grandchildren. Last year I saved $4,879. I love the library!
Thank you for using the library!
I took my two grandsons to get their first library cards when they were 4 and 5 years old. Today they are 13 and 14 years old, and they are readers!!!
Great piece, Jess. It is interesting that many of those wanting to ban books haven’t read them. I wonder how many Americans haven’t read a book OR a newspaper in past year. There has to be a link to number of Americans who vote and act as crazy as we are seeing!!!
I love libraries! The last two cities where we lived, we got a place only about two blocks from the library...and that was SO awesome for us!
I also check out an occasional DVD from the library. My grandsons are theater geeks - they are in choir, theater, and they play guitar. I rented the movie Billy Elliot for them to watch so they could see that not all boys are jocks.
Ladies, excellent comments! By reading a book daily, I show my jock stepson that brains and brawn go together like ham and eggs. I dig books and college/high school sports the most. And classical music. I have two books awaiting me at the library. Kim, I was a choir/theater boy and man and announced varsity games in high school and still do. No brag.
Brains and brawn indeed go together! My son in law is a contractor, and he has taken my grandsons to help him at worksites this summer. Both of my grandsons tried baseball and soccer, but they weren’t crazy about it. My daughter is a sped teacher and she keeps on top of what books they’re reading.
Hopefully, you donated some of it back to them!
I have volunteered for the main branch annual book sale this year on August 7 and 8th. All books, audiobooks, CDs, and DVDs will be on sale for $1. I’ll probably go home with a huge pile.
Always
What a great idea! Every library should do that. I'll recommend it to mine.
Would you mind sharing the name of the library so I could ask how our small, rural library that relies on donations for most of its funding could show its value to book borrowers and hopefully up their donations. Thanks for sharing a great idea.
I live in Lake County Indiana. A very blue dot in a crappy red state. (We live about 20 miles from Chicago, on the southern tip of Lake Michigan. We get their news, we’re on the same time zone, and the rest Indiana is eastern time zone). We work and play in Chicago for higher wages, theaters, opera, museums, and sports, but we smart ones live just over the state line for lower property taxes. Our entire county library system uses the receipts system.
I feel very sad when I read this article, but I understand the reality of it. While I believe totally in climate change and the effect it has on us and our environment, I think the phenomenons are the same. We are in a constant state of flux on this planet, and history has proven this to be so; what we will experience in our lifetime is only a speck of it. However, it is our great loss if, in our lifetime, we forsake the possibilities that reading provides and give up the opportunities to escape to a world of our imaginations that is a great deal more vast and varied than our own.
Reading. A chance to slow the mind. Put the book down and pick it up again as you process. I have made it a habit (though I broke it just last week) to read a fiction and then a non-fiction, usually historical novel. Sometimes both are barn burners but if the fiction is slow, I move on to another book after 50 pages. There are too many books in the world waiting for me to have me plod through garbage. Anyway, I CLEARLY am an outlier. And I totally encourage ALL to read. Daily. And with vigor.
That's my limit too - 50 pages. My "Books To Read" pile is too tall!
Wow! Jess, first of all, I'm glad you're ok! That accident is so scary. And secondly, thank you so much for writing this. I confess I don't read as much as I used to, but I still find time to squeeze in a book now and then. I usually download to my phone and read while I'm waiting at a dealership or a doctor's office. Seems these days I'm always waiting somewhere, and my phone is the handiest way to always have something to read. I'm reading more political information and history than fiction, but sometimes I need the escape a good fiction book brings. Thanks again for your message. Stay safe out there. We need you!
That is scary!
I worked in the public library for 30 years. I got to see all the new books come across the desk and I would jot down the titles I wanted to read on a little slip of paper I'd keep in my wallet. I always had a book with me at lunchtime and on my breaks, so I had an hour and a half of dedicated reading time five days a week. When I left the library, I left the books behind, too. Now, I read the news online, along with several wonderful Substacks (like this one). I did finish an ebook not long ago - "My Effin' Life" by Rush's Geddy Lee. The ebook was great, but I found that I missed holding a real book in my hands. I missed the heft, I missed the smell of the pages, I missed the sound of turning the pages. I even missed having a cool bookmark to keep my place. I realized that reading a real book was a tactile experience, too.
I miss all of these things about reading books, but I haven't gone back to them. Your essay, Jess, reminded me of what I have been missing and what I had forgotten. Thanks for that.
❤️❤️❤️
I loved your comment about cool bookmarks. We try to go to see live music as often as possible, and they used to provide actual tickets to events (nowdays it all tends to be on phones). My husband saves those tickets, and they get used as bookmarks. It's cool to stumble across reminders of some great concerts and musicians.
Likewise, although I am inching back. I again keep a book or two in my truck (I am the transport service for friends who need a ride to doctor's appointments) and will read in the truck whilst I wait.
NORM (as the patrons hollered when Norm entered the "Cheers" bar)! You summed up beautifully the many THINGS I love about reading. Same for me with the Sunday NY Times and the heavy and lightweight books I read.
Norm: “Afternoon, everybody.”
Everybody: “Norm!”
Coach: “What’re you up to, Normie?”
Norm: “My ideal weight if I were 10 feet tall.”
Or something like that.
Makes me laugh every time.
I subscribe to Kindle Unlimited and read on the phone app, so I always have a stack of books in my pocket wherever I go. I also avail myself of the e-books available for free through the St Louis County Library. As I have gotten older, holding a heavy book in my hands has lost a lot of appeal. But my phone is light weight and I can read in the dark, too.
Two years ago, I moved from a blue state to a southern red state. In several situations where I live now when a cashier had to give me change for a $20, they were unable to do so. The country we are creating for our children and future generations is not one that will be able to compete on a global scale. Education is the key to cultural advancement of a society. Reading is the foundation of education. But I have hope Jess that everything we see slipping away will soon return to center stage as priorities for society. I Hold Onto to that Positive Eventuality.
Two other fiction works that I keep thinking of:
1. Huxley’s “Brave New World”. Irrespective of whether we’re “burning” the books, we’re increasingly inhabiting a world in which no one wants to read.
2. Bradbury’s short story “The Pedestrian”. I think about it often when I hear of the “extremely online” people.
What frustrates me, is ppl like Brattin actually want to be stupid. Why would anyone actually want to be dumb?
Or Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron". IYKYK.
HARRISON BERGERON YES YES YES
THX for the shout-out!
OR "Confederacy of Dunces"!!!
Also gotta mention Vonnegut's short-short caustic slap of social commentary, "The Big Space F*ck", anthologized in Harlan Ellison's "Dangerous Visions". Profoundly rude, irreverent & HILARIOUS!
The Mo. legislators & administration want the people in the state to be stupid. They think they are so smart. NOT!
I do believe The Leader said he likes people to be uneducated.
it's the john wayne complex, phil. ever see duke pick up a book in any of his flicks? "I'm smart enough and don't need to bother with reading."
I grew up in a rural area where we went “to town” only when necessary or about once a month and to the city only twice a year. There was no television only radio at home but there were books. As a child, when we did go to town, I was dropped off at the town library while my parents did the shopping. The librarians were kind and helped me pick out books. They let me check out more than the two book limit because I always brought them back. If they weren’t busy, the librarian on duty would ask me what I thought about the story. I thought books were magical. I could be a princess or a cowgirl or be on a submarine going to the bottom of the sea. My parents never restricted what I read for which I am grateful. If I didn’t know a word, I looked it up in the old thick dictionary. I still love to read and, thankfully, instilled that love of reading in my children. We still share titles of books we read. Those early years of being read to and then learning to read and sharing the story with others are priceless gifts. At the risk of sounding like the old lady I am, maybe instead of scrolling or turning on the tv, spend the time reading as a family and sharing your thoughts about the books you read.
Oh, I loved reading your comment! I always know someone is country when they say they are going to town❤️ we go a couple times a week!
Notable that these “parental rights” politicians are throwing a fit over parents choosing to take their kids to a totally optional story time. Sen. Brattin, as chair of the MO Senate Education committee, has been openly hostile to education, unless it’s his choice of education: home schooling.
Brattin is a really bad guy
A true brat.
At times I feel like a time traveler. I make conversational literary references that would have been instantly understood 20 years ago.
Now people quote memes but not Shakespeare.
What's been lost is a common basis for understanding the world.
I've experienced this too! I thought I was just getting old but I like your explanation better! :)
This is the path we are on, one that Bradbury, Huxley, Orwell, Atwood and others warned us about. With apologies to Eliot, this is how the world ends.
Like you, I approached the article with hesitation. I didn't want to admit to myself that I've not only seen it within my community, but also even within my own social circle. People no longer discuss the amazing book they've been reading- instead they share a five second clip from Tik Tok.
I have a neurological condition now that prevents me from reading as voraciously as I used to, even just as few as five years ago. I've had to turn to audio books more and more, but I'd like to think they allow me to absorb myself in something completely, just like physical reading does, while still supporting literature and authors.
I, too, was a teacher. It breaks my heart that people are attacking books out of their own ignorance, preventing children an opportunity to experience the magic that literacy and comprehension bring to their lives.
Here in NH, we had a similar situation to yours in MO- we had a lawmaker (MAGA of course), who wanted a certain book banned. When he was asked if he had read the book, he said he hadn't. Preventing others from that experience all because of his ignorance and hate. Thankfully, that nonsense was shut down quickly.
I avoid social media now- I try my best to stay informed through respected, truthful outlets, and I'm trying to support authors by purchasing their physical or audiobooks.
My heart breaks at all the stories waiting to be read that might now end up forever quiet.
I have turned into an avid audiobook consumer as well. It fits in with my busy life, but I have noticed that it doesn’t create the same deep feelings I have when I physically hold and read a book. Solidarity, friend.❤️
I have a dear friend who has been living with a myriad of physical problems for 25 years; she was finally diagnosed with untreated Lyme Disease she had acquired in her 20's following a hike in the Northeast.
She was (and is again) an avid reader. When she was in the worst of her brain fog (20 or so years ago) she was unable to read. She would often either lie in bed, or sit on her couch just holding a book "for the comfort". I am happy to report she is able to read again, even if it is a struggle.
I love a good audiobook! A good reader can really bring a novel alive. I have listened and been enthralled by books I am pretty sure I would never have been able to plow through with my eyes. I just finished the audiobook version of All the Light We Cannot See, and I was so immersed in the world created that it took a day to emerge. But I'm not sure I would've made it through reading it (probably? It's a really good book! But thick with description--). Years ago I listened to Moll Flanders on a long car trip, another immersive experience, but one that I wouldn't have managed reading it for myself. The archaic language would likely have defeated me (kind of like watching vs reading Shakespeare). Anyway, I know I have not the patience or attention span that I had when I was young. But I, when young, did not have the barrage of visual distraction that kids today are hit with from birth. Television didn't even come into the house until I was 5.
Not subscribing to the Atlantic, I haven't read the article, but I wonder: are the trends it cites worldwide, or merely US based? I know digital media are globally used, but I don't think at the same rate or in the same way. Are we facing a new dark age everywhere, or just here?
I read!! All the time!!! My kids read!! Everyone I know reads all the time!! Hope that makes you feel better. (I couldn't read The Atlantic piece though. The headline was enough to bum me out. Good for you for listening to it.)
❤️
Jess ... I am a retired teacher entering my 4th year of retirement. I read only what was required of me for my first 59 years of life because it was just hard. I found that out early in my school years that comprehension was not a strength. Reading and re-reading content was a go-to that I did all all the time. I found ways to cope with this weakness of mine and it served me well during my teaching career. Although I wasn't confident enough to seek out reading for pleasure, I really enjoyed small group reading during my years teaching elementary because it forced me to read novels. I found out that once I got into the text, it was very rewarding to understand characters and the plot/twists of any given book.
As to my current life after school ... I have read more for pleasure than my other 59 years. I read lots of articles on Substack or as I call it, The Stack. Still not a big book reader, but text is in front of my everyday! I feel really great about this! I have always loved words and my current life post teaching has proven that to me time and again!
❤️❤️❤️
In Iowa just as our state legislators were digging deep into teachers not teaching “controversial” books a few years back, I was so impressed when a grandkid complained about reading “Fahrenheit 451.” Way to go, teacher! I read it with him since too many years since my high school days reading it for me to remember details. Good reminder for me too. We have to elect local officials who will protect our city libraries and who will choose good people for library boards.
There’s also news being reported that AI companies are taking classic books, scanning them into AI for content, then destroying the books. ☹️
I have read accounts of that too!
Yikes!