Lack of motivation to read is the culprit of many students' struggles in literacy achievement, resulting in wider gaps in reading achievement and resulting inequities in schools across America. When students are provided with the ability to choose the text they read for English class, they have an increase in interest and commitment to read, which…

The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate (1) students' interest in reading English books, (2) students' interest in using an online Virtual Library (VL), and (3) students' experiences and preferences relating to the implementation of an online VL within an Academic English Program (AEP). First-year students (N=136) from a public…

Academic resilience is difficult to define in an international setting, since economic levels and achievement standards vary across countries and over time. In studies of academic resilience, the concept is typically operationalized using pre-defined cut-offs of achievement and social background. The main objective of the current study is to apply…

Children's book awards give us a mirror of the culture of a country and the books that children enjoy. While the majority of school librarians are very familiar with the books that win awards in their country, very few are cognizant of books that win awards in other countries. This paper examines major awards for children's books in as many…

In direct replication of a previous study investigating newspaper readership and uses-and-gratifications statements, this study interviewed a parallel random sample from the same market as the initial study using the same questions. A telephone survey of 557 adults was conducted by trained undergraduates enrolled in an advanced research methods…

The study reported in this paper was designed to determine how consumers perceive the newspaper and how they use it; specifically, how well read is newspaper advertising and how do readers of a small daily newspaper feel about advertising content. A team of trained, paid interviewers collected data in two waves, one week apart, from a random…

Presents the concept of bibliotherapy and discusses the value of books--particularly modern fiction and poetry--for helping individuals to cope with death and other personal crises. Several specific titles are recommended for adults. (MES)

A study of formula fiction books was conducted to determine how these books fit into women's lives, what images they bring to mind, and what uses they serve. Seventy-two women from the ages of 18 to 70 read a Harlequin Romance novel by Sue Byfield. Then the group participated in several focus group discussions, a qualitative indepth technique that…

A review of studies concerning the reading habits of people 65 years old or older shows that females spend more time reading then do males; senior citizens do not suddenly develop new or extensive reading habits; they prefer light romance with no sex, biographies, westerns, and mysteries; intellectual and physical disabilities are not major…

A study examined the extent to which adults engage in reading tasks to meet a variety of personal purposes and needs, asking when engaged reading is most likely to occur for types of text sources, reading purposes, reading settings, educational attainment groups, and occupational groups. Subjects included 159 adults who represented a wide range of…

A study was conducted to determine if interest in business and financial news could be predicted from factors other than demographic variables. It was hypothesized that the type and number of personal financial investments the reader had would predict interest in business and financial news. In a telephone survey, 376 adults in a large,…

A report is given of reading material selection and preferences of leisure services personnel. A survey was conducted of the California Association of Parks and Recreation Commissioners and Board members and members of the Cal-SPRE, the education arm of the California State Society. A third sample consisted of members of the National Consortium on…

An example of the influence of television on the reading interests of teenagers may be seen in the popularity of the book "Eric," the true story of a boy's four-and-a-half-year battle with leukemia, which began just two days before he entered college. Although the television adaptation was inaccurate in many details concerning Eric's…

A study analyzed the attitudes of newspaper subscribers and nonsubscribers to determine whether the two groups were truly distinct, homogenous segments of the public or whether there were "atypical" subscribers and nonsubscribers. Data were gathered through telephone interviews with more than 1,000 adults in the southeastern United…

Adolescent literature should deal with the problems of adolescents, should provide them with pleasure, and should say something to them. The adolescent novel is a bridge through a difficult age, a bridge from literature for children to literature for adults, and a bridge to major literary works. Adolescent novels can also be used to approach a…