Lees om te Leer om te Lewe: Reading Habits of Students at the University of Limpopo, South Africa

Abstract

The importance of reading cannot be overstated. The persistent lack of a reading culture in South Africa has been reported by many scholars. Following the growing concern for the lack of reading habits of South Africans in general and students at the institutions of higher learning in particular, this quantitative study investigates the reading habits of students at the University of Limpopo, South Africa. The data were collected using a questionnaire which was completed by 98 students in the School of Education and Programme of Information Studies. The students were identified on the basis that they are being trained to encourage and promote the culture of reading in their work. Microsoft Excel was used to capture, calculate and organise the collected data for analysing. The major findings of this study were that the majority of the students at the University of Limpopo have poor reading habits and that they read for academic purposes only and not for pleasure. The study also revealed that the students were not reading for pleasure as a result of the unavailability of reading materials at the university. It is recommended that the library of the University of Limpopo introduce reading materials to accommodate students to read for pleasure and recreation. The development of lifelong reading interests and reading habits is a constant process which begins in the home, improves systematically in the school and is carried on in later life. Therefore, reading is not just for school, it is for life, as people have to “read to learn to live”.