TL;DR: Too Long; Didn’t Read

Many of us have likely heard about or observed the growing concern in higher education about disengagement from reading – novels or long works especially. If you’re interested in ways to support students’ reading comprehension, concentration, and even enjoyment, these opportunities may interest you: 

• A Meaningful Inquiry webinar this week, “Making Reading Visible,” will discuss how reading habits and prior knowledge can support students’ engagement with complex disciplinary texts. It’s free and not limited to those affiliated with Ohio State. Learn more and register here for the Oct. 14 session. 

• Earlier this month, the ACRL University Libraries Section Professional Development Committee hosted a webinar now available on YouTube: “The Role of Collection Development, Reimagined: Fostering Community and Building Engagement Through Extracurricular Opportunities” with presenters Jaycee Chapman and Christy Hogan from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. They engage with their campus community and promote their resources (and reading generally) with a book club and leisure reading collections. Student feedback is encouraged as a way to help develop a sense of ownership and connection with the library. The presenters also mentioned an article from the Journal of American College Health about the benefits of reading for college students. 

So why does it seem like students are less engaged in reading – not just the usual “didn’t read the syllabus” situation – and what is the impact? The aforementioned journal article, a PBS interview with The Atlantic’s Rose Horowitch, and a terrific Conversation post dig into these questions, and reference additional resources as well: 

Brown, J. and Sandbulte, S.R. (2026, 15 July). ‘Post-literate age’: Why fewer Americans are reading for pleasure. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/post-literate-age-why-fewer-americans-are-reading-for-pleasure 

Levine, S. L., Cherrier, S., Holding, A. C., & Koestner, R. (2022). For the love of reading: Recreational reading reduces psychological distress in college students and autonomous motivation is the key. Journal of American College Health, 70(1), 158–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1728280 

Sarat, A. (2026, 23 July). College professors face an emerging challenge: We know students are no longer reading entire books. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/college-professors-face-an-emerging-challenge-we-know-students-are-no-longer-reading-entire-books-287928  

As Horowitch notes in the PBS interview, “The bedrock principle in neuroscience is that you get good at what you practice and your brain adjusts to improve at the things that you spend time doing. And so if we are spending less time reading, as we know that we are, we are going to struggle much more to do it.”

In better news, book clubs and reading challenges for college students seem to be on the rise. Especially for rural campuses, these activities, along with access to leisure reading materials at their library, can keep avid readers engaged and provide opportunities to reach others looking for something to do. At our library, we are participating in a reading challenge (thank you for the inspiration, Eiche Library at Penn State Altoona!), trying to develop fun curated displays, and promoting the activities of the student-run book club. If you’ve found ways to encourage reading on your campus, please share them!