Abstract:

Reading has always been a key activity necessary for the advancement of knowledge and the transfer of information from one generation to another. Despite the great increase in our mastery of information technology, reading still represents one of the basic ways in which we educate not only children but also adults. It helps us connect to the past and the accomplishments and views of our ancestors, and acquire knowledge necessary for the advancement of our academic careers and the betterment of our lives and our societies. Reading is also one of the cherished pastime activities that helps mold the views and ideas of the readers, their characters, attitudes and values. However, in the past 20 years, a concerning trend has started to appear all over the world and in Croatia as well, which shows that students read less and less and that their attitudes and ideas towards reading have begun to change for the worse. Students seem to be poorly informed, unable to string several meaningful sentences together and generally uninterested in reading, which is regarded as a cumbersome activity. To investigate if these observations were true, research regarding this problem was done and a survey was conducted among 83 first-year students (freshmen) of the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb. This group was chosen because they are recent high school graduates who are not yet fully occupied with their studies and do not read only for the purpose of passing their exams and learning professional facts. This group consists of young adults who were educated mostly in comprehensive high schools that encourage reading not only for the purpose of learning but also for fun and personal advancement. The results of the research have shown that the aforementioned fears were well-founded. Students at the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering read less, they usually only read for utilitarian reasons (such as passing exams) but still consider reading a way to help them improve themselves.

Keywords:

Reading, research, information, reading enjoyment, library.