Book Affordability

Under present status quo, reading has become a virtue in many schools. Programs and various clubs have been made just to support this habit. However, one of the main reasons that children do not read is because books are too overpriced. Therefore, all books should receive a 50% reduction in cost. If this principle is encouraged, children will be given encouragement to read, a major boost to literacy and general knowledge skills and access to better books.

First of all, children will receive greater encouragement to read with more affordable and available resources. More affordability would mean that parents who are financially disadvantaged or just unwilling to spend ‘too much’ will be more enthusiastic to purchase books for children. This will also reduce reading from online websites that will cause greater harm to the retina. With reading as an enjoyable past time, gaming, social media and other forms of computer entertainment can be replaced. Hence, decreased book prices provide a greater encouragement for reading.

In addition, more affordable books mean more popular, better and agreeable books for children. Innovative ideas and themes portrayed in books such as ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee and ‘1984’ by George Orwell will be easier to obtain. Certain children may prefer different genres and they will be able to choose more efficiently with cheaper book prices. Non-fiction books containing ideal facts for children will be easier to obtain. Libraries are unable to always shelve the right book and procuring a library that does possess one is quite tedious work. Thus, more book affordability will mean better books for children.

Last but not least, reading provides a major boost to literacy and general knowledge skills. Reading helps improve writing, vocabulary and idea creation processes. Also, non-fiction books reap general knowledge such as biographical information, politics, processes of nature and much more. The Australian Bureau of Statistics states that 44% of Australian adults do not have the literacy skills to cope with their occupation. With wider reading, these academic boosts can assure a better future for Australia’s next generation. Therefore, reading reaps literacy and general knowledge skills.

Books and reading are essential for learning and cheaper book prices mean that these resources will be easier to obtain. Affordability for books creates greater encouragement for reading, better books for children and increased literacy and general knowledge skills.