Books and blokes

Wake up men! The women are out-performing us once again. Worldwide the statistics show that when it comes to reading, women are leaving men in their dust. While making generalisations about men, books, and reading is dangerous ground (and I won’t even think about making assumptions about women and books), it is undeniable that men aren’t reading as much as women. Here at the Masterton Library we have many regular and prolific male readers, but generally speaking we do have more female than male borrowers.


This is an issue that concerns librarians, teachers, book sellers, and book publishers and one that has received considerable consideration from academics and social commentators. Some have suggested the explanation lies in the biological difference between the male and female brain, others that it stems from the way boys and girls are taught to read. It has also been suggested that the maxim ‘Men don’t read’ has become self-fulfilling: publishers don’t target books to men because they don’t think there is much of an audience, then because men aren’t targeted they don’t read the books. Not many men will be attracted to (or even know about) a particular book because it has featured on Oprah for example.

Research shows that the division between the sexes is at its most obvious in fiction reading, and only in the non-fiction genres of history and biography do men read more than women. The interesting irony is that while men are under-represented in reading fiction, they are certainly not under-represented in writing it, with names like John Grisham, Dan Brown, James Patterson, and Terry Pratchett being amongst the world’s best-selling authors.

The common perception is that the fiction men do read tends to be in genres such as action/adventure, espionage and thriller, mystery and detective, and to a slightly lesser extent science fiction and fantasy. These books often feature strong central male characters, men of action who right wrongs and save damsels in distress. Interestingly these books also enjoy a strong female readership. It would seem that what both male and female readers want from fiction is escapism and entertainment, be it from JD Robb’s Eve Dallas or Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta or Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt.

But, whether the reason is biological or sociological, the fact remains that boys and men are not reading as much as females and with the growing concern over the performance of boys at school, this is a serious issue. Aside from the enjoyment and entertainment that can be gained through reading, literacy remains a key skill for success in the wider world. With the increasing place of information in our lives, it can be argued that the ability to read well is becoming even more important today than in the past.

Men are important role models for boys in this regard. If a boy sees his father (or other male role model) reading, or better yet is read to by a male, he will learn that books and reading are not just for females. This knowledge is going to give him a great advantage in the future, not just for learning and the advantages that good literacy skills will bring, but also in experiencing the particular benefits and enjoyment of reading fiction. If there is no male on hand to model this behaviour, the next best option is to provide him with some books that will have high appeal to boys and really capture his attention. Research and experience shows that when boys are given the right books they can become voracious readers.

Here at the Masterton Library we have many books that are likely to appeal to men and boys, and staff who are only to happy to offer advice on finding things to read. It could be fiction or non-fiction, graphic novels or magazines, the scope of writers and subjects is huge. While we have many dedicated male readers amongst our borrowers here at Masterton, we would love to encourage more to make use of the library. It’s time for men to ‘man-up’ and reclaim reading. As the ultimate good keen man Barry Crump showed, Real Men Do Read, and you’re only short-changing yourselves if you don’t.

Jon Adams
Community Outreach Librarian
Masterton District Library

Masterton, Moera and Mr Muggs

Masterton Library Pre-School Programme
(with Moera on the screen)

On Wednesday the 18th of August Masterton District Library and Moera Community Library combined for an online pre-school programme as part of our Library Week activities. Using Skype we were able to link the programmes being offered at each library, talk to, and see each other, and hold a combined reading of ‘Mr Muggs the Library Cat’ for our part of New Zealand’s largest storytime. Explaining to children of this age that there are other children in other libraries reading the same book can be a bit abstract, but being able to see other children really made an impact. The kids really enjoyed interacting with the technology and far from proving a distraction, it seemed to focus their attentions.

The exercise was also a very valuable one for the adults involved, the link-up proving to be a great medium for sharing information and ideas. One of our Masterton mums is going to contact her sister in Moera and tell her about the great preschool programme going on at her local library. Our children’s librarians are also going to borrow the welcome song used at Moera , teach it to our children, and perhaps be able to sing it back to the Moera children next time we link up.

There were some technological issues such as intermittent sound, and a bit of time lag, but as a first step it was a very encouraging exercise and one that we hope to build on in the future. Congratulations to Chris, Kylie and Erica from Moera, and Jane, Mary and Sandy from Masterton (with help from Steven our Techie) on a really exciting initiative with huge potential and a great way to deliver NZ’s largest storytime.

Jon Adams
Community Outreach Librarian
Masterton District Library

Library Week

Library Week is an annual celebration of libraries and librarians, taking place throughout New Zealand from the 16th to the 22nd of August. Library Week has been running for 35 years and honours the important role that libraries play in our community. The theme of this year’s library week is ‘Ask me - you might be surprised!’


This theme reflects that librarians are not just people who issue and shelve books, and tell you to "shush" when you’ve been too noisy, but are trained information professionals with a world of knowledge at their fingertips. We are also individuals with unique interests and experiences that you may not expect at first glance - all you need to do is ask! Library Week is also using the Māori proverb He Taonga Te Pātai (to ask is precious) which alludes to the importance of teaching, listening and learning.

Masterton District Library will be holding some special events to celebrate Library week. On Monday the 16th and Tuesday the 17th we will be running special training sessions on how to make the most of your library card. These sessions will be held at 10am and 4pm each day and provide advice on how to utilize the features of our online library catalogue, your library card, and our website, including the recently added World Book. To book for one of these sessions please contact the library.

On Wednesday the 18th the library will be taking part in New Zealand’s largest storytime with a reading of the highly appropriate Mr Muggs the Library Cat by New Zealand author and illustrator Dave Gunson. Libraries around the country will be reading this story at the same time and we are arranging an internet video link with Upper Hutt Library for a combined storytelling session followed by a craft activity. This event will take place at 10:30am within our regular Rainbow Kids preschool programme.

On Thursday the 19th we will be holding a special Quiz Night in the library thanks to the generous sponsorship of the BNZ Masterton, Food for Thought café and Trust House. There will be refreshments, spot prizes, and a prize for the first, second and third placed teams. Teams will consist of four members and entry will cost $20 per team. Places are strictly limited so get in quick to take part in this fun evening.

On Friday the 20th we will be having a Love Your Library day. We would like you to let us know about the books you love and will be creating a display of these in the library. We will also be having a special hire one, get one free offer on our adult and children’s DVDs and Premium Rental Magazines. Throughout Library Week we will also be running a competition where you have to match staff members with the book they have selected as their Staff Pick. All successful entries will go into a draw with the winner receiving a wonderful prize donated by Hedleys Bookshop.