Kids’ Disinterest In Libraries Has Nothing
To Do With A Manga Shortage
Federalist,
by
Casey Chalk
Original Article
Posted By: GustoGrabber,
2/3/2023 8:49:14 AM
Poor little Johnny. He would have become a lifelong reader, scaling the heights of Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky. But no. His local school library didn’t have any more graphic novels or manga for him to read. So he lost interest in the printed word. Now he bags groceries for a living.
Such a story might sound patently ridiculous, but that’s exactly what the leftist corporate media want you to think about recent changes in our nation’s libraries. “Schools are struggling to keep their shelves stocked as oversight by parents and school boards intensifies,” says a recent front-page article in The Washington Post.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Scrubber 2/3/2023 9:17:58 AM (No. 1393680)
It’s not “disinterest”, it’s “uninterest”.
10 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
bad-hair 2/3/2023 9:23:52 AM (No. 1393692)
So the notion of re-reading a book is just silly.
Cat's Cradle 9 times because it's fun, like Groundhog Day. Winston Churchill's "The Gathering Storm" 4 times because it's true and we're living it.
I would visit and hang around my library more except it's a homeless shelter with books.
20 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Hazymac 2/3/2023 9:33:17 AM (No. 1393708)
As #1 said .... Disinterest means lack of bias. Professional writers should know the difference.
8 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
bpl40 2/3/2023 9:59:36 AM (No. 1393742)
When he was in high school, my son developed a habit (which I was trying to discourage) of asking me spellings, meaning, history instead of referring to a dictionary or encyclopedia. One day he said "Dad, how come you know so much about so many things"? My answer was "Because of something your generation is vaguely familiar with. It is called reading".
16 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Corndoggies 2/3/2023 10:13:52 AM (No. 1393751)
I’ve always been a voracious reader. I started visiting our neighborhood library when I was 8ish and it had a grouchy old lady librarian. I won her over when I brought back a stack of books after a week and she thought I didn’t like them. I said oh no I read them all. She became, not a friend, but she helped me develop reading interests. Biographies of famous women were a staple. This was the 60’s so I doubt she was a crazy lib like todays librarians. I buy a book or two for my grandkids to encourage reading.
12 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
JackBurton 2/3/2023 10:36:36 AM (No. 1393773)
My library doesn't have Grant's memoirs. Or ANY conservative book or ANY book that challenges the AGW (anthropogenic global warming) culture. No Charles Williams.
8 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
ladydawgfan 2/3/2023 10:57:21 AM (No. 1393788)
I was also a voracious reader and still am. I remember looking forward to the Weekly Reader every Friday and being able to order my own books. At home, we also had loads of Nancy Drew Mysteries, the complete illustrated Oz series (sadly lost in a house fire), a ton of Dr.Seuss books, the complete Little House series and the Encyclopedia Britannica amongst our home library. We also visited our local library and the school library regularly. My parents encouraged reading and I loved being able to visit foreign lands and ancient times in my imagination through a book.
To properly encourage a child to read, they must be started young, as soon as they know what a book is, even before they can read it for themselves. My parents read to us before bed. We did the same for my nieces and nephews. The infants would stare at the pictures and listen to a comforting voice. The toddlers would poke at the pictures and occasionally point out letters. By kindergarten, they were usually reading bits and pieces of the book and by elementary school, a reader was created. Christmas gifts always included a new book to read. My nieces and nephews all had a pretty nice collection of books to choose from growing up.
Of course, I grew up in a different time, before computers, video games and 24 hour cable channels. Our television time was highly regulated by my parents so my books were a haven for me. I just cannot imagine not wanting to read a book!
12 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Flyball Dogs 2/3/2023 11:06:24 AM (No. 1393797)
My Biblically oriented pastor says:
“Leaders are readers.
Readers are leaders.”
6 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
MissNan 2/3/2023 11:45:10 AM (No. 1393821)
I’ve never heard the word Manga and had to look it up. A Japanese graphic
novel with an adult theme. What kind of parent would let their child read this? And would children even be able to check an adult themed book out?
5 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
chumley 2/3/2023 12:10:19 PM (No. 1393846)
As a teen I read everything I could get my hands on. I picked up books as soon as I woke up and after school. I even read and understood the instrument flying manual for the F4 Phantom. Reading was a big part of my life back then. Yet, I havent been in a library in decades. The reason is simple. Since 1995 I have had the entirety of human knowledge at my fingertips. With the internet I read more than I ever did. Why would a kid go to a library when more and better is available instantly?
5 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
JHHolliday 2/3/2023 12:16:19 PM (No. 1393853)
I looked a few days ago and had over a thousand books in my Kindle library. My wife is clearing out and donating our physical library. I don’t play golf anymore so we are giving the golf books away. I must have over a hundred instructional golf books (not that many helped me much). The fishing and outdoor books and other novels I will keep.
I wish I could thank my late uncle now. He taught me basic reading when, at age 5, I got laid up with the flu and he took comic books and had me reading the balloons in a week or two.
4 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Aubreyesque 2/3/2023 12:29:34 PM (No. 1393859)
Believe it or not my mother's family read books but only went through them once. The idea of rereading them WAS silly to them. I however was a book worm that, once finding a worthwhile book, would read it until the edges were tattered and pages falling out or the library card had every line filled with my name. Mom marveled with some dismay that I would read and reread a book. I never understood why someone would only be satisfied with one pass through especially if it was a good book.
I think the problem of getting people to read has always been there...we just have computers and social media to blame today. As others have pointed out, a love of books begins with the baby. I read books like The Hobbit and A Tale of Two Cities to my daughter and when she was four, I bought her the Hooked on Phonics program...She was reading well above her level by the time she got into 1st grade.
I wouldn't trust a lot of Japanese material simply because what they choose to produce for American audiences is a whoooooole lot less conservative than what they give their own children. I have been horrified by some of the themes.
5 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
SALady 2/3/2023 1:26:57 PM (No. 1393913)
Let's see, you are a teen and you can go to a library, or you can find everything you need on your phone to finish that school assignment about why LGBTXYZ+ people are so much better than "cisgender people" (that is "normal people" for you and me) -- plus all the TikTok Chinese propaganda, and pornography, that you could ever want, from the comfort of your bed at home.
Gee, "tough" choice there for the laziest and most messed up generation in American history!!!
3 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
DVC 2/3/2023 2:11:08 PM (No. 1393957)
I read books AND comic books when I was a kid. I read the newspaper because it was interesting starting at age six, with my breakfast. I really have difficulty grasping people who are uninterested in reading. I read voraciously, and always have done so. At one time I had 30 magazine subscriptions and read all of them cover to cover. I am down to about four or five now, since so many that I used to read have become propaganda outlets like Scientific American and National Geographic. Even Road and Track has been not renewed, a continous subscription since 1968....because EV's and million dollar cars just get old. No more road tests of normal cars, no more racing coverage, no more columnists worth reading.
6 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
downnout 2/3/2023 2:40:46 PM (No. 1393992)
Is Car and Driver still published? It used to be a hoot!
1 person likes this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
MissMann 2/3/2023 4:45:22 PM (No. 1394075)
I wouldn't let my kid go to the library, alone or with me, nowadays...ours are homeless shelters with porn portals--a bunch of unwashed, intoxicated men watching porn and playing with themselves. Why librarians think they need to make everything on the internet available but never thought to put printed porn or videos on loan is a mystery to me. Though, I don't want to give them any ideas!
2 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
EvanaJoy 2/3/2023 6:34:55 PM (No. 1394133)
We have little free library boxes near us, which were a Godsend during the time of the pandemic when the libraries were closed. I've been a user of public libraries my entire life, but the selection isn't so great at the one nearest us and we've mostly switched over to receiving (and giving and trading) books at the little free libraries.
1 person likes this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
YorkieMom 2/3/2023 7:34:13 PM (No. 1394167)
I’d almost rather read than eat. I’ll read anything and everything I can get my hands on. My favorite sweatshirt says “So many books, so little time.” Thanks Mom for encouraging me and my siblings to read by reading to us and taking us to the library at an early age.
2 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Faithfully 2/3/2023 8:41:55 PM (No. 1394202)
Mothers do not let their children go to libraries that allow druggies to use the facilities.
3 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
broken01 2/8/2023 11:59:32 AM (No. 1398150)
Poster #5 I have a history similar to yours. I too am voracious reader. This was back when it wasn't cool for a Black kid in elementary school to like reading. I was accused by my fellow Black peers of "acting like a White boy." As an escape I often visited the local library and the lady's that worked there liked me because I loved to read and was respectful to them. All of the children's books, their copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica, almost anything I loved. They even had a comic book section which I not only loved to read but it turned out I could draw them. The same peers that called be a want to be White boy came around when I started drawing their favorite superheroes like Superman, Spiderman and the Hulk. Talk about a life saver. I still love to read even though it seems that there isn't enough time in the day. I also still love comics and only found out what Manga is due to the large three-story comic bookstore in the nearby town. Back in the 80s you had to go to the local library or drugstore to get them. It's funny how even though everyone is on their various electronic devices to read or whatever I'll always either pull out my trusty paperback or hard cover. With me some things will never change.
0 people like this.
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