Why do we love reading so much? The American writer Christopher Morley says that “when you sell a book to a person, you’re not just selling twelve ounces of paper, ink, and glue, you’re selling a whole new life. Love, friendship and ships at sea at night, all of heaven and earth in a book, a real book.” We all know that reading is great. But the question is simple and complex at the same time: why do so many people at least once think about what books are good for? What is the purpose of reading? Why have so many people failed to find a satisfactory answer that is original, intelligent, or practical?
Some (perhaps many) consider reading to be a waste of time, an unnecessary and unhelpful activity simply because they have not yet realized that books are created for us and their ultimate goal is still us. We all know the importance of school textbooks for people’s cultural backgrounds. But books should not be seen as mere tools to be consulted during the school years with the sole purpose of acquiring a kind of spatial knowledge. Books are much more than that. They contain images, sounds, and emotions that are so important that reading skills should not begin and should not be learned only at school. It requires a long practice that should start in the family and possibly at the age of innocence (before school years).
A recent economic study focuses on the impact of education on income in Europe, distinguishing between people living in rural or urban areas and children and adolescents who had access to books in their homes. The results show that a large number of books at home is a powerful synonym for high education.
Thus, it has been shown that there is a strong link between books, education, culture and income, which in turn generates the achievement of better living conditions not only from a purely economic point of view, but also from the point of view of human success. It can be said that reading helps in all areas of life. Many may define reading as a “superior” attitude, it should be seen as a disadvantage to writing (an activity that has gone hand in hand for many years). Those who cannot read cannot write, and vice versa. Everything around us could not be known, interpreted, and understood if books did not do so: an intense mastery of concepts drives us to write.
From the most famous passage in literature, to a scientific textbook on human history, to the most popular bestseller, every time we open a book, it is as if we are opening a door, crossing a frontier where we could be anyone. A book is a story to be told, but it lives from the stories of many others, creating a unique layer of wisdom and intention. When closed, a book is just a paper box, as Borges suggested. Once opened, each book begins an indefinite, magmatic, and intense discussion with other books, and its direction and outcome is impossible to predict.
Although fascinating, reading is not yet a popular activity. The figures for Italy show an insufficient critical mass of readers: complete indifference or casual reading still prevails. Such narrow dimensions put Italy at the bottom of the European rankings. Why do we read so little and give books marginal importance? Is it really possible that the new media, from television to the Internet, have distanced us from a healthy reading habit? Distracted by new trends and increasingly unable to manage their time, fewer and fewer people are enjoying the joy that anyone can feel when looking at and smelling a good book.
New forms of digital writing systems may have affected reading: although there is no unanimous interpretation, the diffuse feeling is that we are facing a new revolution after the historical transitions from oral to written language, from roll to page book, from handwritten to printed book. New books can be read on computers, PDAs, cell phones, or with the help of special tools of the latest generation, e-book readers, tools that can replace the material cradle of the book but leave the quality and poetry unchanged.
Those who demonstrate an increased dislike of books are mostly young people, 45% of them aged 6 to 19 do not even read any books except for school books. Women in all age groups read more, and residents of northern regions read more. The Center for Books and Reading was founded in Italy in 2010, it is an autonomous institute of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, which has the task of promoting books and reading in Italy, as well as promoting books, culture and domestic authors abroad. The Center’s goals are to reintroduce or bring more and more Italians to books for the first time, with the aim of increasing the number of readers by 50% over the next ten years.
An effective starting point to stimulate a reading revival, increase the number of books in Italian homes, and overcome the widespread occasional and casual interest in books could be the free distribution of books (a form of institutional bookcrossing), managed by publishers and with special attention to poor and disadvantaged families and social groups.