The Decline of the Importance of Reading

Looking back, I realize how important my family considered reading. We were taught, growing up:

1. It is rude to read at the table (during a meal, anyway) if others were there. (Reading was so consuming that one would not interact with the other person ... or the non-reading person would commit the next-listed reading "sin.")

2. It is rude to interrupt someone who is reading (except for emergencies, of course).

Reading really isn't as high a priority today as it once was. That's not to say that reading doesn't happen. There are more "readers" (people who buy books, magazines and newspapers) everyday. Statistics show that "new" readers are coming on line faster than old readers are dying off. The demand for writing is on the increase ... but not as fast as sound-bite apathy.

So libraries and bookstores are no longer safe havens for people who respect words. Shoppers there allow children to run crazy and scream, and the adults hold loud conversations.