The past few weeks, I’ve focused heavily on increasing reading for pleasure in adults. First, I focused on the benefits of reading and shared them in a social media post. Next, I addressed the decline of reading in American adults. Then, in an effort to actually encourage reading, I created a video with advice on how to get back into reading. Now, for the last deliverable of this social media campaign, I’m looking at the bigger picture.
Reading benefits us in many ways. Mackenzie Kilano wrote for The Michigan Daily her thoughts on the power of reading. Kilano discusses how it will improve our memory, strengthen brain power, and enhance general knowledge. She also mentions how the emphasis on reading is placed more often on children and less on adults. Assistant Director of the Johnson County Public Library, Sarah Taylor, tells Upstream Prevention about other unexpected benefits of reading. Emotional intelligence increases, as well as cognitive engagement and self-improvement. Reading is a great tool to continue exercising your mind throughout your entire life. It’s also a great form of entertainment. Plenty of times I’ve opted to read over watching a show or movie because I was so invested in the story. However, the power of reading goes beyond the ways it benefits us as individuals. If we all read more, we could improve our society as a whole.
What is the Power of Reading?
The power of reading within our society is bigger than I once thought. Teri Coan from Once Upon a Book Club published an article in 2023 titled “Reading Revolution: The Power of Books in Society.” Within this article, Coan discusses how reading gives our society gifts. She explains that reading goes beyond personal enjoyment, it creates unity, empathy, and understanding within our society.
When I read Coan’s article, I realized the perfect way to wrap up this social media campaign was to explore the gifts that reading gives us, and how we can change our society if we all read more. Up until then, I’d only explored how reading benefits us on an individual level. In order to truly express to others how important reading is, I knew I needed to show how it can change things beyond the individual benefits.
The list I created for my social media posts, pulling from Coan’s article, is as follows. First off, reading causes increased critical thinking and creativity, both of which society benefits from more of. Next, the gift of learning can last beyond the classroom. Most of us are in school for a small percentage of our lives, but there is so much more to learn, especially as we get older. Reading also creates connections outside of our digital world. Technology rules our world these days, but connecting in other ways is still important. Reading also fosters social change and advocacy. Society can embrace human diversity through increased understanding of all people through reading. If we all kept these in mind, we could all improve as a society.
Gillian Rainville | QU Graduate Blog 
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