THE reading habit in today’s world is certainly under threat and this decline has to be addressed urgently before it is too late. Judging by the number of people who frequent libraries or who purchase books, it is clear that the reading habit is slowly dying.
Nowadays, not very many people spend their spare time reading and the adverse effects of this decline are already evident in the form of a deterioration of the quality of both the written and spoken language, which has become of major concern.
Many factors are associated with the decline in reading and these include the advent of television and more recently the computer age, which perhaps has had an even greater impact than television.
But in Guyana’s case, the decline began even before the advent of the television and computer.
Because of the destruction of the national economy in the 1970s and 1980s, foreign exchange became scarce and this led to import restrictions.
The first victims of this foreign exchange scarcity included bookstores and virtually all were closed because books could not be imported.
Consequently, the availability of books became limited and the few available were extremely expensive and out of reach of the ordinary person’s pocket.
This took a heavy toll on the reading habits of Guyanese and the advent of the television and the computer contributed to the decline.
However, the importance and benefits of reading cannot be over emphasised. In fact, the reading addiction is one of the few that is good. But, like most habits, it has to be inculcated from a young age and that is where parents and elder siblings play a key role.
One of the greatest benefits of reading, particularly to the young, is that it helps their vocabulary tremendously. It has also been found by educationists that children who are avid readers generally have higher IQs and do better in school than those who are not.
So, the benefits of reading are overwhelming and what has to be done is to formulate policies, programmes and strategies to vigorously combat the decline in the reading habit.
In this regard, in what was probably a hardly noticeable development, the formation of a reading club at the National Library is a most appropriate start.
But this should not be just a Georgetown affair. Vigorous efforts must be made to spread this concept and have it materialised across the country.
The primary aim of the reading club concept is rekindling a love for reading among Guyanese, and the recent launching of the ‘Reading Club’ was in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
This initiative is intended to develop reading and comprehension skills and will be used as an education tool for the improvement of literacy levels.
In her address at the launching, Deputy Chief Education Officer (Development), Ms. Bibi Ali, emphasised that reading is an essential tool for empowering individuals to be productive.
Ms. Ali made a very pertinent point because there are far too many unproductive people, especially among the younger section of the population.
It would now be hoped that with this start, the reading club concept would gain momentum in the fight to arrest the decline of the reading habit.