Even in today’s changing world, reading remains an important lifelong skill that leads to better jobs, increased longevity and improved brain health.
The COVID pandemic affected kids’ learning, but a downward trend in children’s reading scores actually began before that. “American students’ literacy skills peaked in roughly the middle of the last decade and have fallen significantly since that time,” said Martin West, academic dean and a professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The National Assessment Governing Board determined that 40 percent of fourth graders not reading as well as they should be.*
Research is underway to figure out why this is happening to our kids. Educators like West suspect that it may be tied to digital media. “So my hunch is that reading has declined because it’s facing growing competition from other forms of media consumption that may offer students more immediate gratification. I think we have a lot of evidence to support the extent to which technology can be a distractor when students are engaged in learning processes. And that ability to distract, to compete for attention, could also lead to diminished appetite for persistence in reading on their own.” He also noted the fewer kids report reading for pleasure.
What can families do?
“To encourage preteens and teens to read more, let them choose what they read and remember that audiobooks, graphic novels and manga all count — anything that gets them interacting with words,” says Sarah Howard, youth and community services manager at the Daniel Boone Regional Library. Howard points out that students already have required reading for school, so look for materials that connect to their interests, identities and hobbies, and consider pairing books with movies, shows, music or games they enjoy. Setting aside a weekly family reading time — even for just an hour — can make a big difference, especially when it’s low-pressure and social.”
“Our kids take a lot of cues from us. You can be a model for them by letting them see you read and talking about what you’re reading and why. Howard says, “The goal is to support lifelong readers and learners, not to track pages or offer rewards, so keep reading materials accessible at home and make regular trips to the public library together.”
How can the library help?
Sign up your child and/or family for Summer Reading, which begins May 29. Summer Reading offers kids, teens and adults their own set of summer reading and activity challenges they can complete to earn a finishing prize.
During the winter months, you can sign up your child and/or family for Winter Reading, which runs January-February. Participants set their own goals and earn finishing prizes. And, in the spring you can encourage your teen to participate in the library’s annual March Madness Teen Book Tournament. Students are invited to vote for their favorite books in a series of rounds that narrows the titles down to the Elite Eight, the Final Four and the champion. Each round they vote, their name is entered into a drawing for a chance to win cool prizes.
Read to Succeed Adult Literacy Program
Ultimately, the downward literacy trend continues into the adult population. Through the library’s Read to Succeed program, adults struggling to read can get free individual reading lessons from trained tutors. To sign up for lessons or learn more about being a volunteer reading tutor, call 573-443-3161 or email readtosucceed@dbrl.org.
It will be a challenge to reverse the reading literacy decline among our youth, but together we can get our children on the reading track.
*The Harvard Gazette, September 24, 2025, ‘Harvard Thinking’: What’s driving decline in U.S. literacy rates?