Dear Library Lovers -
I recently had a brief exchange with a Library Board member about why we choose to read what we do. It’s a simple question about something to which I suspect most of us don’t give much attention. It’s such a basic, reflexive action, honed over millions of tiny decisions over a lifetime of reading into finely tuned, automatic, “Yes – No” conclusions. How would you describe your decision to read something, or not? The answer probably comes easily. Dig deeper and I think you’ll find it’s a bit more complicated.
We often, despite the sage advice, judge books by their colors. Or the cover image is interesting in some way and so we pick it up to inspect more closely. What about its size? Or the place it was found, or the person who recommended it? The author’s credentials, the reviewer’s opinions, the summary on the book jacket, the automatic notification from a news feed, the font size, the location on the bookshelf. Any one of these little nudges can influence our decision-making behavior to read or not to read with only our slightest consciousness of it.
I would suggest that, even if we believe we fully know the reasons we read or reject, there are still myriad more invisible pushes guiding us to that conclusion. Unconscious biases, media bubbles, resource access, cognitive abilities, language barriers, time, all conspire to “help” us decide to read or not to read. Our brains want to take shortcuts, to make decisions quickly and efficiently, to prioritize what is pleasurable over what is difficult. But sometimes we need to be smarter than our impulses.
With the comments above in mind, I challenge us all to become more conscious of why we choose to read something. I’m sure you can come up with dozens of words you have intentionally skipped over just since breakfast, if you think for more than a moment about it. Why did you skip that reading? Next time you find yourself choosing “No”, change that to “Yes” and see what happens.
Because it’s part of my job to talk about reading, I’ll note that I recently read something by Arthur C. Brooks with a similar bit of advice. In Love Your Enemies, Brooks recommends, “Go find someone with whom you disagree; listen thoughtfully; and treat him or her with respect and love. The rest will flow naturally from there.” I was pretty sure I wanted to say “No” to reading something by an author whose previous book had the title The Conservative Heart. But I’m glad I consciously chose to say “Yes” to this reading instead.
See you at the Library!
Brian Van Klooster
Mission of the Greendale Public Library
We strive to transform lives and strengthen our community by creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive home for information, learning, inspiration, and connection.
