Abstract:
Boys enjoy reading less and are less skilled in language ability than are their female peers. This division in reading ability is reversible, but needs to be addressed while the boy is still young-before or during middle-school age-to be most effective. One useful genre of book to combat this problem is literature of the American West, since many boys are interested in historical information as well as the means of storytelling western writers use, such as adventure, humor, and young protagonists. Librarians have a key role in helping boys to enjoy reading through the programs they offer and the organization and collections in their libraries. In this paper I discuss the problem of boys not enjoying reading and address how to solve the problem with western literature and the help of a library and its librarian.
