24 Apr Story #3
Utah City
Millcreek
Professional Status
Employee
Influence of Books and/or Reading
It goes way back to a long tradition of reading in my family. Even when just reading, there was always a family policy to read whatever we wanted. I never had restrictions. Dinner-time was always time to discuss what we were reading, doing in school, or watching in the news. Every Saturday my dad would take me to the library in my hometown. I remember at my public library, that someone was trying to get a book removed and the librarian said that wasn’t OK. I would spend time browsing the stacks, mostly trying to find something scary to read.
Outside Factors that Influence Reading for Work
For work, I focus on the two big social issues that I talk a lot about with students. Read about how to serve new generation students better. And how to integrate information literacy into existing curriculum. I read what my students are reading. I may not want to read it but I will even if it causes emotional distress. I am a better teacher and librarian if I’m reading the same material as what the students are reading. Readings around topics like sexual assault are difficult to read. But I know I can have that kind of engagement with the text and allow myself to keep it to the text and not make it personal. I had a lot of conversation about the confusion faced in reading triggering material. This helped me to make that separation between self and the text and not getting lost in my own narrative. It made the experience bearable.
Outside Factors that Influence Reading for Leisure
Reading serves now a different purpose. It’s a luxury that I do just for me. I used to look to literature as a way to understand things I didn’t personally experience. Like poetry. Now I read to escape from serious topics and serious conversations at work. I also want to escape politics. I also spend time reading parenting material, mostly in journals. I equate quality with literary content. Time is a major factor. I listen to a lot of audio books because of the time factor. I read books on the phone, too, and use an eReader app. Movie watching is more serious than reading content. I don’t mind intense movies but not books. I want to read more intense poetry. “Good Bones” by Maggie Smith is an example of post-election reading material. I have a mini-reading club with my husband. We use it to keep conversation going amongst each other and follow the online book club and other people’s comments. Reading is a source of relaxation. Reading is rewarding.
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