Good news, bad news about reading

You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.—Ray Bradbury, author of “Fahrenheit 451”

Was it surprising that in the 2012 National Book Development Board’s SWS Readership Survey, the top three favorite reading materials were the Bible, romances, and cookbooks? That the decline in the readership of newspapers, magazines and even comic books continues? And that the more frequently one watches television and videocassettes, reads newspapers, listens to the radio, and uses the Internet, the more likely one reads nonschool books (NSB)?

It was in pursuit of the NBDB’s specific goal of promoting book readership especially among the young and the neoliterates through various programs toward literacy and good reading habits that the board, through the efforts of its former chair, Dr. Dennis Gonzalez, first embarked on this survey on the reading attitudes and preferences of Filipinos. It commissioned the Social Weather Stations to conduct the first survey in March 2003 for the baseline data, and then again in 2007, and the most recent, on May 24-27, 2012, to be able to establish and compare trends.

This is a significant project because of the three time periods during which the survey was administered and the fact that this is the most comprehensive survey on book readership in the country. Of course, there are good news and not so good news, perhaps not making the trends so different from patterns seen in other countries.

How I wish our readership data were neat and compartmentalized so that the electronic media would emerge as the expected alternative or distraction, as well as the apparent reason for the decline in reading habits. For aside from the good and bad tidings, there were many surprising ones, too.

For the study, the sample size of 1,200 individuals aged 18 and above from all over the country was selected for the face-to-face interview. The survey covered reading behavior, reading preferences, patterns of purchase and acquisition, electronic book readership, and attitudes toward books and reading.

The proportion of NSB readers in decline was significant from 90 percent in 2003 to 83 percent in 2007 to 80 percent in 2012. SWS vice president and COO Linda Luz B. Guerrero, who presented the survey findings to the invited publishers and the press, reassured everyone that this is not too bad, as it means that four out of every five adults are still NSB readers. What were the determinants for the decline? The only factor that emerged was that the biggest decline was found in the Visayas and Mindanao. There was no other available information to explain it.

Other striking survey results: The number of hours a week spent reading has increased to 4.6 hours. Readers are now reading at a much earlier age, from 17 years in 2003 to 15 years in 2012. The main reasons for reading are still information and enjoyment. The most popular ways to acquire NSB is by borrowing or receiving them as gifts. Books in Tagalog are preferred, although they also read English NSB. For the very first time, the language preference replies include Filipino. Nine in ten readers bought their books on sale or at special discounts. Information to guide book choices come from blurbs or word-of-mouth referrals from family and friends. Interestingly, the readers did not take note of either the NSB’s publisher or author. Book purchasing for personal reading has declined, now down to five in the past 12 months, compared to seven in the previous surveys.

Guerrero stood by the statistics, as she also pointed out that this survey, unlike those on sensitive topics such as sexual attitudes and politics, does not carry questions that may lead to embarrassment, a degree of reticence, or the need for confidentiality. It was mildly disappointing, of course, to find that people would not be feeling any unease to admit that they are not readers at all.

The NBDB is fortunate to have had generous partners in this last survey, without whom it would not have been possible to complete the study because of budgetary constraints. There are the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines led by Director General Ric Blancaflor and Vibal Foundation led by Ester Vibal. These two institutions had their own set of questions particular to their spheres of interest that generated information that can only be made public by them. Incidentally, this was a working model in collaboration and shared survey costs that was held up as a viable possibility.

The results of the readership survey should be significant as a tool not only for the NBDB’s future policy planning but similarly so for publishers, the Department of Education, the mass media, and the general public. What have we done to promote and package reading as a worthwhile activity? The questions that loom large are: With these findings that need closer scrutiny, how do we all do a better job, how do we move forward? What programs and strategies can institutionalize reading?

What is clear is that much still needs to be done.

Neni Sta. Romana Cruz ([email protected]) is chair of the National Book Development Board,  a trustee of the Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation and a member of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.