The Seventeenth International Conference on Books, Publishing & Libraries

Abstract

In Japan, like most other countries, the younger generations are reading less than before. How can we motivate students to get in the habit of reading again? This has become one of the main questions in Japanese higher education circles. I, as a researcher of humanities, tried to gain students’ interest in reading books in the humanities, which is a less popular domain for them. In this session, I share my practices during classes and in the university’s library to understand common problems and offer some ideas. First, I show data that sheds light on the realities of the Japanese younger generations who don’t read books and the problems this creates at the university level. Second,I share two practices that encouraged my students to read. One is in my philosophy and French language classes, in which I give them opportunities to read in connection with their interests. The other is, in the university’s library, in collaboration with the librarians there, who make the point on how it’s easier to meet and borrow books which interest students. This study increases understanding of the difficulties Japanese universities have, and offers some solutions.