Reading for a healthy mind

Reading has long since given way to the television as the top choice for a leisure-time activity. But book lovers haven't given up, and for good reason.

Regular reading has been shown to increase concentration, enhance the ability to notice subtleties, quicken information-processing and increase the ability to understand how other people think and feel.

Watching television, on the other hand, has little effect on minds except creativity reduction.

Regular readers also tend to write better, write easier, know more facts, have less memory loss, have more hobbies, sleep better and be more successful than their tube-junkie counterparts. Readers also tend to show far less mental decline as they age.

Knowing few of these facts but fearing an increase in illiteracy, librarians and book-worms started to worry in the 1950s, when radio waves had infiltrated virtually all American households and televisions started becoming ever more commonplace.

By 1958, the American Library Association had organized National Library Week, a celebration of books and libraries meant to remind people that reading can be more than a learning exercise, but an adventure too. "Wake up and read!" was the slogan.

This year's library week starts today, and the Carson City Library staff has set up a slew of events to celebrate it, as they do every year.

"The programs we've featured for National Library Week have been pretty popular in the past," said library official Cory King.

This year's theme of the Carson City's library celebration is "Extreme Encounters @ Your Library!" in recognition of the wrath of nature over the last year - a year that has included raging wildfires and record snowfall in Northern Nevada.

On Tuesday, award-winning Nevada Appeal photographer Rick Gunn will give a slide show documenting some of his worldwide travels, starting at 7 p.m.

Wednesday will feature the "Storm King" Mark McLaughlin, an award winning author on Western an Nevada history. McLaughlin will give a presentation starting at 7 p.m.

On Thursday, the library will host a 7 p.m. screening of "Everest," a documentary of the infamous 1996 Himalayan storm that killed eight mountain climbers. The IMAX movie documents the filmmakers' attempt to help surviving members of the imperiled climbing group.

On Friday, Designs with Duct Tape will give middle- and high-school students a chance to get creative with the universal fix-it resource and create all manner of everyday items.

All library week events are free, and all will be held at the Carson City Library, 900 N. Roop St.

n Contact reporter Cory McConnell at cmcconnell@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.