The future of reading is very much in doubt. In this century, reading could soar to new heights or crash and burn. Some educators and librarians fear that sustained reading for learning, for work, and for pleasure may be slowly dying out as a widespread social practice. Several social and technological developments of the 20th century, such as…

In a time when information self-service and enhanced competition have sent libraries of all types into an oftentimes desperate search for a renewed sense of purpose, a fundamentally important question takes center stage: How can libraries connect with the deepest aspirations of their service communities? This article describes a new library…

In 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) released a grim report on the state of literary reading in America. "Reading at Risk" (www.nea.gov/pub/ReadingAtRisk.pdf) detailed a dramatic decline in recreational reading across all segments of the American population--young and old, black, brown, and white. It also included the projected…

Readers often think of nonfiction as an information experience and not as a story experience, and indeed many nonfiction titles are task oriented, teaching readers how to knit or outlining the process of building a fence. But there is a huge body of nonfiction that is both informative and story-based. New nonfiction classics like Jon Krakauer's…

Readers' advisory (RA) librarians use appeal to translate between readers and books, to make connections between readers and myriad other title possibilities based on the effects of the story. Appeal addresses the elements of books that readers respond to, the features that "draw a reader into a book" and help shape a particular reading…