The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that 22 percent of boys spend at least thirty minutes a day reading compared to 33 percent of girls.  The National Center for Educational Statistics reported in 1998 that boys were outscored in reading performance at all grade levels since 1988.  The performance gap between boys and girls leads directly to the growing gap between male and female admissions to college.  The Department of Education predicts that in 2007 there will be 9.2 million women and 6.9 million men enrolled in college.

      Girls read more books and consistently do more homework than boys.  More girls than boys have public library cards.  More boys than girls are suspended from school, more boys are held back, and more boys drop out of school.  Boys are three times as likely to receive a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.  More boys than girls are involved in crime, alcohol, and drugs.

      Boys tend to learn to read at an older age than girls, take longer to learn, and comprehend narrative texts less easily.  Boys also value independent reading less than girls and see reading as a way to get information rather than as a recreational activity.  

      Boys are goal-oriented.  They like to share with other students the latest information happening in music and sports.  They tend to read a wider range of genres over a broader array of topics than girls.  They are usually most interested in books and periodicals about hobbies, sports, and activities they might engage in.  They like adventure, comedy, science fiction, fantasy, and humor more than other fiction and poetry. 

      Television, computers, and other activities compete for time for reading.  For boys, the need to be physically active can further hamper their interest in reading.  Librarians and teachers can help boys select and use books, magazines, and newspapers which are as entertaining as television, which feature their special interests, and which provide information that facilitates their participation in sports and other group activities.

      The following suggestions will help motivate boys to read:

• Provide regularly scheduled class visits to the school library, and help boys locate a wide range of reading materials.

• Give students a choice of books, magazines, and newspapers during time for independent reading.

• Invite men to read aloud to students.

• Help students obtain public library cards after visiting a public library.

• Look for books that boys enjoy, and recommend them for the Young Hoosier Book Award Program.

• Take pictures of boys engaged in reading who are in the highest grade in the school and therefore role models, enlarge the pictures to poster size, and display them in the school.

• Have older boys select books and booktalk them to students in other grades.

• Find out the kinds of books and magazines boys enjoy, and recommend them for addition to the school library.