Library Reading Corner

In the picture, three primary school children are sitting in the reading corner of a public library. They are seated on floor cushions rather than at tables, and each of them is holding an open book and reading quietly. Low bookshelves filled with books line the wall behind them, arranged at a height children can reach on their own. What I also noticed is that they are sitting close together but each reading separately, so it is a quiet, comfortable space rather than a silent one.

I recently enjoyed a book about a boy who moves to a new town and befriends an old man who repairs bicycles. Not much happens in it, but I liked the way the two of them slowly became friends without ever saying they were friends. There was one part where the old man fixes the boy's bicycle without being asked, and I thought about that for a while afterwards. I borrowed it from the library and ended up reading it twice before returning it.

I think children today read differently rather than less. Many of us do read, but on screens and in shorter pieces, such as articles, captions and messages, so a long book feels harder to settle into than it once did. Phones and games also offer instant entertainment, while a book asks you to be patient for the first few chapters. However, I have noticed that when someone recommends a book personally, my classmates do read it, so I feel the problem is not interest but competition for our attention.