S1E106: Will the new National Library Board campaign get more people to read books?

Would you read regularly if you were paid to do so? The National Library Board (NLB) is hoping that people will develop a consistent reading habit by giving readers virtual coins that can eventually be exchanged for cash. They need to spend at least 15 minutes on the activity each day. But why does the library have to incentivise us to read for fun? What do we lose when we no longer read, especially if we’re choosing to doomscroll instead? In this episode of The Usual Place, I speak with: Associate Professor Loh Chin Ee from the National Institute of Education, who researches people’s reading habits, and Chris Koh, the programme director of the National Reading Movement Highlights (click/tap above): 1:47 How was ReadSG conceptualised 3:41 Why do we have to be paid to read? 7:41 Is reading for 15 mins actually realistic? 10:45 Does reading daily create a habit? 19:16 Why we should stop calling kids “non-readers” 21:10 Will book clubs get people reading? 27:39 What do we lose when we don’t read? 32:19 S’pore’s most borrowed library book? 33:34 Book recommendations from Chris, Chin Ee and Natasha Books recommended in this episode: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb The Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Bang My Car by Ann Ang Ministry of Moral Panic by Amanda Lee Koe Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah ([email protected]) Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm Follow The Usual Place podcast on IG: https://str.sg/8KNT Follow Natasha on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/v6DN Filmed by: Studio+65 Edited by: Teo Tong Kai & Hadyu Rahim Executive producer: Danson Cheong Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah, Elizabeth Law & Zachary Lim Follow The Usual Place Podcast and get notified for new episode drops every Thursday: Channel: https://str.sg/5nfm Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/9ijX Spotify: https://str.sg/cd2P YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast Feedback to: [email protected] --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX -- #tup #tuptrfSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.