Books, Reading, and Undergraduate Education

A~STRACT FORECASTS OF THE DEMISE OF THE printed book or codex and the associated changes in the academic library foster valid questions about the continuing place of reading and print media in American colleges. This article cites the increasing interest paid to information technologies by higher education, particularly college libraries, and the corresponding competition from radio, television, motion pictures, video, and a changing campus culture characterized by separation rather than unity, isolation rather than community. The author recognizes a nearly universal expectation for immediate gratification of a need for answers rather than understanding. He suggests that reading remains a fundamental building block for a liberal education, providing a broad basis for knowledge and understanding. The essay concludes with an advocacy for reinforcing student critical reading skills and habits giving them a contextual framework for a lifetime of self-directed learning. The book remains at the center of a critical reading program.