How reading just 20 minutes a day can change your educational pathway

Claire Dwyer, Librarian at College Alpin Beau Soleil, believes in the power of books to change a young person’s educational outcomes.

“According to the World Economic Forum one of the top reasons that you should pick up a book are that it could help you live longer.  A research study conducted by Yale University concluded that people who read books on average live 2 years longer than those who don’t, irrespective of gender, wealth, education or health.  If this is not incentive enough to get you reading, or encouraging your child to read, then consider that reading regularly can also help you to build your vocabulary and help ward off brain deterioration.

The other piece of good news is that it does not really matter what you are reading.  Of course, I would prefer our students are reading for pleasure and enjoying many of the great novels we have in our school library, but actually it does not matter what you are reading, only that you are.

So where do you start? 

Reading is a skill that has to be developed just like any other, just like shooting basketball hoops, or skiing a slalom course.  All it takes is to make sure reading is a part of your daily routine.  Even if you read just 20 minutes a day, in one year you would have read for 3,600 minutes and read more than 1.8 million words!  

In my role as Librarian, I am always looking for ways to encourage our students to read more.  With students from more than 50 nationalities here on campus, we have to make sure that our library is stocked with books in a wide variety of languages and themes.  Whether it’s the latest Manga, French comic, or Harry Potter.  We know that our students like a challenge which is why we recently launched our inter-house reading challenge.  Students and staff alike are being challenged to read as many books as possible over the months of December and January, gaining valuable points for each book that they read.  

So, my advice is, start reading today!”

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