Reading as a lifeline among aging readers: Findings from a qualitative interview study with older adults

Abstract

Older adults who identify as readers and choose to read for pleasure in their everyday lives are understudied despite the persistence and pervasiveness of this kind of reading. The phenomenology of reading and critical age studies inform this pilot project that uses in-depth interviews conducted with five readers who are between the ages of 75-90 years and who live in Canada. Data analysis followed principles of close reading and thematic analysis. Findings privilege the voices of the older readers and show how their experiences of reading can be analyzed using the metaphor of reading as a lifeline that, in turn, bridges with notions of resilience and embodied information practices. Reading for pleasure supports resilience and a reflective stance on life among older adults. The findings call for other researchers to engage more readily with older adults and will be of use to librarians and others who provide services, programs, and resources to older adult readers.

Effects of Developmental Bibliotherapy on Subjective Well-Being of Older Adults Living in Nursing Homes: A Quasi-Experimental Study

“…Resilience, positive state, and emotional existence of an individual are key elements of happiness (Malyn et al, 2020). Reading can give older adults a sense of amusement and participation and helps improve their resilience and refl ective attitude toward life (Rothbauer & Dalmer, 2018). Th rough thematic discussion and expression of feelings and emotions in a safe and supportive environment, selfconfi dence and self-identity of older adults can increase (Chamberlain, 2019).…”

Reading time: exploring the temporal experiences of reading

“…For some readers, keeping track of their reading is another temporal mode for shoring up the material infrastructure of their reading practice (Rothbauer and Dalmer, 2018). Notebooks with yearly, weekly, monthly records of authors and titles read, collections of borrowing slips, stored library borrowing histories and folders full of reviews and notes of books to be read [6], and books that have been read are all ways of representing a reading history with an "unbroken temporality" (Krekula, 2020).…”

“…75 years of age and older) found that reading was a "lifeline" for these readers. It functioned as a method of navigating episodes of one's life and was a way to preserve what was deemed important about living and life (Rothbauer, 2018;Rothbauer and Dalmer, 2018). These older readers reflected on reading over the course of their lives, but we can see how a lifeline is constructed in a more immediate account offered by 24-year-old Selina as she describes her reading practice: [ .…”

“…Cedeira Serantes, 2014Serantes, , 2016Serantes, , 2018Serantes, , 2019Serantes, , 2020Rothbauer, 2009Rothbauer, , 2011Rothbauer et al, 2006) some with adults including older adults (e.g. Rothbauer and Dalmer, 2018;McKechnie et al, 2006) [1].…”

Mitigating the Challenges and Capitalizing on Opportunities: A Qualitative Investigation of the Public Library’s Response to an Aging Population

“…Future research is therefore needed to explore how public libraries support the well-being of older adults via collections, outreach services to bring collection items to library users with limited mobility, volunteer opportunities, and physical spaces, and how these services are experienced by this demographic. As noted by Rothbauer and Dalmer (2018), reading among older adults can have several positive social and health outcomes. Understanding how public libraries can facilitate this practice via their collections may be an important area of future research.…”