Help...I'm a slow reader!

In my line of work as a librarian, I often hear people express personal frustration with their own reading abilities. I might hear, "I don't like to read because it takes me so long to finish a book," OR "I'm not a reader because I only skim through magazines."

Hearing these concerns, I can't help but remember my own frustration in college when I was required to read a great amount on a regular basis. One particular conversation I had with my college roommate, also an English major like myself, has stuck with me over the years. As I complained to her about my reading assignments taking so long to complete, she said, "The only way to get better at reading is to read more. Read books, magazines, newspapers, websites...read everything you can get your hands on." I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to her advice then, but I can honestly say now that her advice works. You might not think that reading for pleasure in little bites, whether it's a magazine or a social networking site, is REAL reading, but it most certainly is. And the greatest part is that you are strengthening your reading abilities while you're enjoying yourself.

The more you read, the better you get, the more better you get, the more you like it; and the more you like it, the more you do it. — Jim Trelease (The Read-Aloud Handbook: Sixth Edition)