Grooming a Generation of Readers at ACity Reading Banquet

The increase in mobile device usage, time spent by young people on social media and streaming platforms is expected to affect reading globally. However, a research published on www.ourbookshelfch.com about World Reading Habits indicates that “African mobile users spent an average of over four million hours reading books on their mobile phones in 2018, representing a 32% increase from 2017.” This research, therefore, proposes that although technology may be taking over the world, reading of books still finds a place and there is a need to sharpen the reading skills of young students through creative and innovative approaches.

At Academic City College, an annual event dubbed “Reading Banquet,” is organized for students to spend time reading materials from different categories including children’s literature, academic writing, newsprints, magazines, African poetry and proverbs, etc.

This year’s event was held on Thursday, October 17, 2019, under the tagline “Upgrade Your Brain — Read a Book.” The Reading Banquet allowed students to apply varying reading techniques and strategies they learnt during their communications skill class within two hours.

Reading skills occupies one of the core slots in the Communication Skills department; organizers of the Reading Banquet. During this session, students are exposed to extensive and intensive reading, as well as reading strategies that would help them reap maximum benefits from their reading.

With a setup well crafted by some volunteer sophomores, and the presence of a welcoming mascot, the 2019 Reading Banquet came across as more exciting and a grand improvement upon last year’s event.

The class, which was split into four groups, spent 30 minutes each at the four reading stations created, to read and capture as much as they could within the period. Some students went the extra mile to record items that caught their attention during each session and shared their discoveries with the entire team after the event.

Students who participated in the Reading Banquet 2019 were impressed with the initiative and looked forward to more of such sessions that allowed students to learn in an environment outside the strict look of classroom seriousness.