Why do we read?

I remember my days at college; going to the library was always the most joyful break I’d have. Not only for doing my homework or to complete research that requires books and references, but for the pleasure of spending time among the bookshelves, searching for something new to read, something exciting to learn. I read about philosophy, self-improvement, art, photography, cultures and even topics that never attracted me. And now I know this; even books which I may think are boring and not interesting to me, have something to teach us.

Once I went to the library with a friend who thought it was for the good drinks in the café there, not the books.  I mentioned that I would go to pick a book while she was getting her coffee. She laughed saying “Why?” I said “Because reading feeds our minds.” She replied, “That’s different, we don’t need to read. It’s always good to learn, yet reading is a waste of time, we can learn from life itself.” She believes reading is not the same as learning, and feeding our minds only happens by going to schools and taking courses!

What she said is partly true.  Life teaches us so much, more than what any book can teach us. But reading a book is always the best choice if you want to spend less time searching for the access of a new path, a new “life lesson”. And actually when we read a book we learn how to switch to someone else’s mindset until we finish the book and then we get ours back. Reading can provide a renewal of our beliefs and theories; it also helps us to accept new ideas and respect differences.

 Interesting Facts:

•  Arabs read an average of 6 pages a year. (Arab Thought Foundation’s Fikr, 2012)
•  & UAE is among the countries that read the most in the Arab world. (Yahoo Maktoob Research, 2011)