Reading: Evolution or Extinction

By: Cole Costantino

Humans have been reading since the dawn of time, well, for at least 5000 years. The Epic of Gilgamesh has long been considered the world’s oldest recorded story. Found inscribed on clay slabs in modern day Iraq, the story is thought to be (loosely) based on the Sumerian King Gilgamesh. The work is teeming with mythos, customary of the time, but the real uniquity of The Epic of Gilgamesh lies in how it was preserved. Stories have been told longer than they have been read, and The Epic of Gilgamesh is simply the first to be physically recorded.

Some may argue that humanity has reverted, abandoning books, occupying their time with a new form of oral storytelling: social media. Donna McAndrews, Niskayuna librarian of 10 years, cites it as the greatest competitor and threat to pleasure reading. “I would say that the biggest shift would be using the phone instead of reading, as something to do with your time. That's what's happening more, and I think that has interrupted pleasure reading more than anything.” Granted, this is not anything abnormal, but just like anything else, it is just one piece to the broader puzzle. 

Reading has not been entirely replaced by cellphones, and there is much debate on if it ever could be. Our library alone has checked out an average of 5,500 books per year since 2017, a stark contrast with the general consensus that reading is on the decline. Whether this number is due to reading assignments or for pleasure reading is unclear, and does it matter? No, the benefits are the same.

“It's like if you were fertilizing your garden, it's how you do that for your brain,” said McAndrews. “And in that way, any type of reading. So some people prefer non-fiction, some people prefer to just read the paper or magazines... All of that is still feeding your brain and making it stronger.” 

In the wider world, that is to say those outside of the realm of academia, reading has generally been on the decline. Or has it? A study from the Pew Research Center states that 75% percent of Americans have read one book a year, a statistic largely unchanged from 2011 to 2022.  A new development is how these books are being consumed. Print remains the most popular form at 65%, but what is shocking is the rising prevalence of e-books. Approximately 3 in 10 Americans read e-books, an increase by 5% from 2011.

It seems reading is going nowhere, not anytime soon. Books have continued to captivate an audience even in our new digital age. Reading is more accessible than ever as well, free from the confines of a library or bookstore, they run wild on the web. They’re at our fingertips, through e-readers, audiobooks and online platforms, the adaptation of literature proves its longevity. Its evolution.