This morning Michelle emailed me a link to this article: Group Aims to Make Reading a Guy Thing. The article discusses the Just for Guys Book Club that is sponsored by the Mt. Lebanon Public Library and the disparity in reading habits between boys and girls. The article puts the blame for this disparity largely on perception, noting that boys don't see their fathers reading as much as they see their mothers read and that male teachers tend to not read aloud as much as female teachers. If boys don't view reading as a masculine activity then they will assume it is not for them.

While I agree that the more boys see other males modeling reading behavior the more encouraged they will be to read themselves, I don't think it is enough. We need to take into account what is available that would appeal to male readers and how we are marketing those books to them. As a librarian I am loathe to label a book as being a boy book or girl book. That's just wrong. However, I am fully aware that there are large chunks of my library's collection that young male readers would not pick up even if it was the only book on the shelves. Maybe there are boys out there reading the Gossip Girl series, but if there are I haven't met them yet.

Not that there aren't books out there for young male readers, because there are. It just seems that they are not as plentiful or as obvious as books geared towards the female audience, and I don't think libraries and book stores are making it easier for those readers to find them. The next time you are at your local book store wander to the Juvenile/YA section and take a look at what is on display. Nine times out of ten you will find the latest YA Chick Lit titles (with a few big name authors mixed in) on the end caps and display tables. There are more books out there than what is being displayed, and yet the ones that boys might be most interested in aren't making it to the display.

Marketing people will argue that what gets purchased and displayed depends on the consumer. And if it is girls who are reading/buying (not boys), then that is who their target audience is and that is who they are going to gear all of their marketing towards. But if we don't target boys as an audience, how do we get them excited about reading? How do we show them that yes, there are books out there for you? And aren't the female oriented displays only reinforcing the idea that reading is a female activity, not a male one?

Even if boys see reading behavior being modeled by the men in their lives, book stores and librarians need to be ready to step up to the plate and provide reinforcement. I don't see how any attempt to turn boys into lifelong readers can be successful if we don't work together.

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