Are youngsters reading enough?

Shanjh Banerjee, a Class 12 student from DPS New Town, Kolkata, admitted that her love for reading has remained strong over the years. An avid reader, she said she always makes time for the Kolkata Book Fair. Like Shanjh, many youngsters today still find joy in reading. Of course, many young people prefer reading books online, using platforms like Kindle or buying books through sites such as Amazon or Flipkart for convenience and accessibility. Overdependence on social media and AI tools like ChatGPT has reduced leisure reading habits. Yet, the presence of youngsters at the Kolkata Book Fair 2026 and their continued interest in collecting physical copies sow renewed hope.

The 49th International Kolkata Book Fair was filled with visitors of all age groups, from school and college students to middle-aged readers and senior citizens, browsing through rows of book stalls. However, youngsters clearly dominated the crowd. Groups of college students were seen moving from stall to stall, browsing their favourite sections, while school students excitedly flipped through paperbacks and series titles despite the growing presence of digital reading platforms. Anushka Das from St Xavier’s College said she often goes on book hunts in College Street, the ‘Boi Para’ of Kolkata. “Thanks to BookTok (a subcommunity on the social media platform TikTok), reading has become quite popular among this generation. The book fair offers a wide range of genres and authors under one roof. You also get access to works by several Bengali authors, from Satyajit Ray to Rabindranath Tagore, which are difficult to find elsewhere,” she said.

Ayushaman Bhadra, a BBA (H) student from EIILM Kolkata, mentioned that many youngsters today prefer reading or buying books online for convenience and affordability. “I usually buy books on Amazon because it’s cheaper, gets delivered faster and I don’t need to travel. I also use Kindle often, as it gives easy access to digital libraries and makes reading more convenient,” he said. On Kindle, readers can easily highlight passages, adjust font sizes, change text styles, and modify margins, allowing for a more personalised and distraction-free reading experience.

Bengali author Saikat Mukhopadhyay believes young readers are the hope of the nation. “This Kolkata Book Fair had a record participation of young readers and publishers, which shows that despite the digital age, new readers are finding ways to read books. This is, of course, hopeful,” he said.

Yet, with doomscrolling and constant social media use becoming common, many youngsters spend more time browsing reels and posts than reading books. The rise of AI tools like ChatGPT has also shifted the way information is accessed, making quick answers more convenient than engaging with a full book. These digital habits often shorten attention spans and reduce the time devoted to leisure reading. But still, India’s reading habit hasn’t faded away completely in the AI era. Last year, a new report suggested that Indians spend nearly seven hours a week reading, just minutes behind the US, the world’s biggest bookworms. In the US, readers spend around 357 hours annually on books and other reading materials. In the case of India, readers allot nearly 352 hours annually to reading, which is indeed impressive. In fact, the report suggested that reading did not fade away in the digital era.

Anil Acharya, a professor of English and founder of Anustup Publication, Kolkata, said the effects of AI will be felt most by students, as it could hamper critical thinking and imaginative power. However, he noted that young readers are still making their way to bookstores, which presents a bright picture. “As guardians, we must take responsibility to push them to read books… books that matter and improve knowledge, critical thinking, and innovation,” he said. Anisha Ghosh from the English Honours Department at Scottish Church College, Kolkata, reflected on this trend. “I still love reading and prefer physical books, but my reading time has definitely decreased compared to before. I often find myself scrolling through reels or social media posts for hours, and even with AI tools, it’s easy to get distracted,” she said.