How Overwhelming Obligations Affect Black Women Readers

By Joyce Woodard

Overwhelming obligations are one of the many barriers Black women readers face at SIUE.

I view this as a barrier because it has been a common reason Black women readers have mentioned as to why they don't read more. Junior TaKara Gilbert mentioned, since being in college, “...all of my free time to explore books, I really want to see, I don’t have time for that.”

To me, this suggests that Black women readers at SIUE need to find a better balance between required reading/assignments and leisure reading. It can be overwhelming trying to balance so many obligations while in school, but if we made a better effort to improve reading habits, I think it would be extremely beneficial.

Addressing the reasons why Black students don’t feel motivated to do some kinds of reading -- like book-length reading and immersive reading -- is important for making reading more accessible and helping them find a balance.

Related: 

• Five Major Barriers Facing Black Women Readers

• Five Major Barriers Facing Black Men Readers

• Notes on Black Readers & Digital Culture

Being A Very Good Reader

Given the work I've been doing on readers, sometimes struggling reading, I took note of words from Toni Morrison, someone on the other end of the spectrum.

Years ago, I noticed Morrison stating in interviews, “I’m a pretty good reader” in one instance and, elsewhere, “I’m a very good reader.” In her book On Morrison, Namwali Serpell reflects on Morrison and herself, writing: “Over the years, through my work and experience as a literature professor and fiction writer, I’ve learned a lot about the Black cultural traditions that ground her aesthetics. And I am, as she often said of herself, a very good reader” (20).

I love these public declarations, from Morrison and now Serpell, about being very good readers. They also raise questions: What distinguishes a good reader from a very good one? How does someone move from good reader to better reader to very good reader? And under what circumstances does one feel compelled to mention it aloud?

Maybe calling oneself a very good reader is less a claim about talent and more an acknowledgment of years spent building the habits and interpretive range that serious reading demands.

Related:

• Notes on Black Readers & Digital Culture

Considering Different Kinds of Reading

We may need to do more these days to distinguish among different kinds of reading, since we are engaging in more of some forms and less of others.

On one hand, we might refer to long-form, deep, book-length, immersive, or academic reading. On the other hand, we might consider digital, screen-based, onscreen, or scroll-based reading. These are not simply different formats; they often involve different rhythms, attention demands, and cognitive patterns.

When students say they prefer physical books, I sometimes wonder if they mean that book-length reading offers a needed break from the constant stream of words encountered on phones, computers, and tablets. 

Making distinctions among types of reading is important because without them, we risk misunderstanding both how much people are actually reading and what kinds of cognitive engagement those reading practices require.

Related:

• Notes on Black Readers & Digital Culture

Five Major Barriers Facing Black Readers

I took a look at barriers identified -- here and here -- by contributing writer-researchers, and it prompted me to reflect on obstacles that stand out from my own observations. Here are five that come to mind:

Personal shame. Social stigmas associated with struggling to read or being perceived as unintelligent discourage people from seeking the help they need.

Social media overload. Constant scrolling, rapid engagement with brief content, and ongoing digital distractions can weaken attention spans and the cognitive endurance needed for long-form reading. 

Institutional Indifference: Despite widespread research and general concern about literacy, institutions often fail to provide consistent, focused support for developing strong, motivated readers.

Difficulty Identifying Interests: Many readers disengage because they have not been connected to topics, genres, or authors that genuinely spark their curiosity.

Limited Resources and Supportive Environments: Strong reading skills typically develop in environments rich with time, materials, and encouragement—conditions that many struggling readers do not consistently experience.

Related:

• Notes on Black Readers & Digital Culture

Are people misreading our questions about reading?

Digital culture is sometimes so pervasive that we underestimate how much we read on screens, assuming that “real” reading occurs elsewhere.

I was reminded of this idea over the course of the semester as I listened to students and reviewed findings from my contributing writer-researchers. Students frequently report that they prefer reading physical books over digital versions. Perhaps. But they do not always account for just how much reading they actually do online.

Based on her interviews with several Black women students, Joyce Woodward came to similar conclusions. "Digital culture is so intertwined in the lives of Black readers that they don’t realize how they rely on it," she wrote. 

We have been asking students about their reading habits, and many say they prefer physical copies over digital ones. But it is also possible that they assume we mean something specific when we ask about “reading.” Do they think we are referring only to books? Only to assigned texts? Only to literature?

I see far fewer students attached to books the way I see them attached to their phones, constantly reading, scrolling, responding. The question may not be whether they read. The question may be whether we are asking about reading in ways that allow them to recognize the full range of what they already do.

Related:

• Notes on Black Readers & Digital Culture

Black Students and Digital Culture

By Joyce Woodard

I have found that so many black students underestimate just how much digital culture truly affects their reading.

When I asked Black women how their reading would be affected if digital tools disappeared, most said it wouldn’t change much. I’m not saying I didn’t expect everyone to say they would just stop reading, but I did expect someone to possibly say they would read a lot less or feel less motivated. They would acknowledge that they would probably have to make more of an effort to read, but the adjustment wouldn't be that hard.

Based on what I have observed, digital culture is so intertwined in the lives of Black readers that they don’t realize how they rely on it. I think digital tools are seen as harmful to reading, which is why most of them answered the way they did. But thanks to Digital tools, Black students have been able to find and build reading communities.

While it is great to hear how motivated Black students are to read, I do think they have slightly overlooked just how much their reading habits are shaped by digital tools.

Related:

• Notes on Black Readers & Digital Culture

Another Season of Toni Morrison

The last eight months have seen a surge of Toni Morrison coverage, extending the visibility of our most critically-acclaimed and well-known Black writer even further.

Three major publications have anchored this renewed attention. On June 17, 2025, Amistad released Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship by Dana A. Williams; on February 3, 2026, Knopf published Morrison's posthumous lecture collection Language as Liberation: Reflections on the American Canon; and on February 17, 2026, Hogarth released On Morrison by Namwali Serpell.

At the same time, Vintage has begun an ambitious reissue campaign. In November 2026, the press will release new editions of Sula (introduction by Jesmyn Ward), Beloved (Honoree Jeffers), The Bluest Eye (Jacqueline Woodson), and Song of Solomon (Tayari Jones). In spring 2026, it will reissue Jazz (Kevin Young), Love (Raven Leilani), Tar Baby (Sasha Bonét), and Paradise (Tommy Orange), and then A Mercy (Imani Perry), with God Help the Child and Home scheduled for August.

These books have generated sustained commentary. In The New York Times alone, Martha Southgate, 

Wesley Morris, Parul Sehgal, and Veronica Chambers have published essays and reviews centered on Morrison. Additional coverage has appeared in The Guardian, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Slate, The New York Review of Books, and on NPR.

Morrison remains the central “one Black writer at a time” figure, welcome news for her legacy, even as it reminds us how little attention continues is bestowed on large numbers of other Black writers working today.

Related:

• A Notebook on Toni Morrison

• Book Notes: One Black Writer at a Time

Book Notes: One Black Writer at a Time

My brother Kenton and I co-wrote One Black Writer at a Time: How Literary Coverage Shapes Reception (September 3). The book focuses on the recurring pattern in media, scholarly discourse, and publishing to elevate one Black writer at a time, often at the expense of hundreds of others whose works go underrecognized.

Entries:

• Another Season of Toni Morrison