WaPo: A Librarian's Lament

Hat tip to Boing Boing for pointing me to this op-ed piece written by a Washington area school librarian noting the changing nature of libraries and the fading interest in book reading among students: A Librarian's Lament: Books Are a Hard Sell:

I recently spoke with a junior who was stressed about her decreasing ability to focus on anything for longer than two minutes or so. I tried to inspire her by talking about the importance of reading as a way to train the brain. I told her that a good reader develops the same powers of concentration that an athlete or a Buddhist would employ in sport or meditation. 'A lot out there is conspiring to distract you,' I said.

She rolled her eyes. 'That's your opinion about books. It doesn't make it true.' To her, the idea that reading might benefit the mind was, well, lame.

As a blogger and internet addict enthusiast, I'm part of the problem. But I'm old enough to know that I am missing something by not reading more literature. Will the generations coming up never have that appreciation?