Symposium: Reader Interest in Science - Adults

Abstract

A comprehensive discussion of what adult readers read, and why they read, in the area of the sciences would take much more time than the limits of this portion of the symposium afford. This consideration therefore proposes to indicate some conclusions based on observations and reading- -observations which it is hoped will be helpful, both as an aid in meeting current problems and as a stimulant to further discussion. Katherine Prescott concludes her study* of the interests of people who used the Norwood Branch of the Cleveland Public Library by indicating that the prime function of this particular branch was to "help people meet the problems of everyday living. " Reading for entertainment came second, and highly intellectual reading was a very poor third. This study was undertaken as an aid in shaping book selection policy, and as such it is useful to us in furnishing the above mentioned clue as to why people read. The characteristics of a library's service area determine both quantity and quality in what is read, and therefore the specific conclusions certainly do not apply to each and every library because the physical, economic, and social factors vary from community to community.