College Kids, Reading and Activism

Sunday's Washington Post featured an article by Ron Charles about the reading interests (or lack there of) of college students. The author is troubled that the reading selections of today's college students aren't the revolutionary, politically charged, introspective reads of yesteryear. Instead, Charles laments, "Here we have a generation of young adults away from home for the first time, free to enjoy the most experimental period of their lives, yet they're choosing books like 13-year-old girls -- or their parents." Chief on a current college student's reading list: Twilight.

Yes, it's true, college students are reading Twilight. So are middle schoolers, high schoolers, young professionals, stay-at-home-moms, businessmen and grandparents. Everyone is reading Twilight. It's a phenomenon like Harry Potter where readership is not defined by a certain demographic. And it's one book for Pete's sake! (Okay, okay, it's four books - but it's not as though identifying as a person who has read Twilight means something other than that you are alive in the year 2009). Let's not make it out to be more than it is.

So yeah, college students are reading Twilight, and I guess it's the end of the world because this is evidently an indication that instead of a desire to change the world, it means they want to revert to the safety of childhood. I don't think anyone is going to argue that college students aren't as mature and independent as they once were. Extended adolescence - adultescence, if you will - is a fact of our twenty-first century that is plainly evident in the over-involvement of parents in their adult children's lives*, the "boomerang" generation, and the ever-increasing age at which young people are marrying and having children. To say that today's twenty-somethings aren't growing up and moving on to full-fledged adulthood as fast as they used to isn't a shock. But to demean their activism and engagement in critical thought just because they aren't reading Barthelme (who, by the way, I had too look up!), is foolish.

These same students are the motivated young people who propelled our nation to elect its first African-American president just a few short months ago. These same students are applying in droves (over 25,000 applications this year alone) to teach for two years in low-income communities through Teach For America. Yes, they drink a lot and aside from Twilight the other book that most have probably read is Tucker Max's I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell - a book so repugnant that I can't understand how a movie version got an R rating instead of NC-17 or worse (if there even is worse). But they read a lot of textbooks and classics in all of their college coursework, and college is only getting more and more academically rigorous and it's more important than ever to be a well-rounded student who achieves inside and outside the classroom.

Give the kids a break. As noted in a previous post, it's not like publishers, booksellers or libraries are making any effort to appeal to the college set. So leave them be. At least they're reading during their minimal free time. They have a lifetime to read.

* Last summer I worked with college students and the day before they arrived a mother called concerned that the special sheets and comforter she had shipped for her son had not yet arrived in the mail. I assured her that he could go to Target and buy another set if it didn't arrive in time. She drove 7 hours the next day with a second set of bedding, made her son's bed and left. True story.

Underserved Populations: The "Other" Young Adults

In the library world, the term "young adult" is used to refer to individuals aged 12-18 (sometimes 21). In recent years, much attention has been paid to this group and to the historical lack of services and materials that cater to the interests of these young folk. Over the past ten years, however, publishers, authors, and librarians alike have dutifully tapped this market, giving rise to teen divisions of publishing houses, honors such as the Printz Award to recognize the contributions of young adult authors, "Young Adult" or "Teen Librarians" tasked with developing a collection and providing programming to teens, and of course, Nerdfighters.

But what about those other young adults? You know the ones I'm talking about. Those guys and gals in their post-high school/college years. Quarter-lifers. Twenty-somethings. The "real" young adults, who are both already adults, but still young and new to the scene of adulthood. Maybe I'm more sympathetic to the cause because I am one myself, but I find that this is truly the most underserved age-group, librarilly speaking. There's a sense that people in their twenties who are busy starting careers and settling into long-term romantic relationships aren't exactly the library demographic, but libraries also don't tend to offer programming that caters to their needs and interests. And so I wonder: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

It just may be a case of "if you build it, they will come." It worked for teens, right? So why can't it work for twenty-something young adults? Most of them are going to wind up at the library sooner or later as parents anyway. Why not bring them back sooner? I'm not saying it will be effortless, and I certainly don't think it's something that would catch on overnight. But with the proper foundation, I think it could really catch on. A lot of people in their twenties don't have a lot of money and could benefit from some free media. Think about it. The collection is already there, it just has to be marketed in the right place and in the right way:

* Commuters could save major duckets by checking out books (or CDs) of their favorite new releases instead of buying them at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com.
* And what about downloadable audio? You can do that from home!
* The library's DVD collection is ripe for replacing the monthly Netflix/Blockbuster subscription

And what about programming?

* A fiction book club where monthly reads feature protagonists in their twenties
* A non-fiction book club focusing on topics like jobs, relationships and finances
* Cooking classes on "Meals for One" (bonus: a nice way to meet other singles!)
* Displays including titles like Suze Orman's Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke and Abby Wilner and Alexandra Robbins' Quarter-Life Crisis,

But how to get 'em to the library in the first place? What about promoting events and the collection...

* through posters/flyers at the gym, restaurants, the supermarket, laundromat and bars?
* in the calendar and advertisement sections of area publications similar to On Tap, The Village Voice, and Time Out?
* via direct mail (or e-mail!) to patrons in the age demographic?

I think this could really work - especially in high population centers. I think I see the next wave of library patrons coming our way.