Can books be "medicine for the soul"? As a society, do we value books and how much do we read? Ivana Ivanović from the City Bookstore says that books are being bought, but on a smaller scale than before. Aleksandra Bojanić, librarian at the City Library in Nikšić, says that old members are returning. He states that last year there were 57 members in the adult department, and now there are 87.
˝Young people read less than ever. "They read the little literature they have to and almost nothing else," says Dr. Sociology Ratko Božović.
He notes that freedom of choice and the inner will of the person is expected in the determination to read.
When asked how harmful it is for society to read little, Dr. Božović answers that it is difficult to expect a decline in reading in a society of transition in which the primary effort is to maintain basic existence.
˝And when a correlation is established between material poverty and spiritual drought, then it is a society in which the book is almost forgotten.˝
He emphasizes that the absence of a book is logically associated with elementary and functional illiteracy. ˝The perspective of such a society is extremely uncertain.˝
When it comes to the books that are the best sellers today, Dr. Božović says that ˝these are the books that the media falsely present as being what they really are not.˝
˝Such popularity and value of books differ like a god and a hatter,˝ states Dr. Božović, stressing that critics are silent about them, because they don't read them or despise their authors.
˝It won't get dirty, and that's not right either˝.
Dr. Božović states that his attitude towards reading has changed to the extent that he no longer reads only valuable books from the past, but also those that appear "today, which are known as postmodern".
˝As a man of books, I read at least one book from the domain of literature every Sunday.˝
Bojana Miletić, MSc in Psychology, states about the benefits of reading that it encourages imagination and critical thinking in children, and therefore affects their intellectual and emotional development.
˝Reading also allows us to enrich our vocabulary, improve concentration and develop empathy, and recent research has shown that in this way we can significantly reduce the level of stress,˝ points out M.Sc. Miletić. Reading, she says, can also act as "medicine for the soul" by initiating various psychological processes in the reader.
˝We all face different difficult life situations and in such circumstances we seek comfort, meaning and confirmation that others have also gone through what we have experienced.˝
Mr. Miletić states that a person who reads can identify with the characters, their behavior, and within the literary work can recognize close people and their own intimate experiences.
˝The process of identification is the most important and the activation of the following depends to a significant extent on its realization. In the end, the reader can come to an insight, that is, a new way of understanding oneself, other people and different situations," she states
Mr. Miletić believes that reading can provide us with a different perspective for looking at problems, broaden our horizons and offer numerous alternatives, or simply enable us to escape to another world for a short time, but sometimes necessary and useful.
Literature therapy
˝Knowledge about the beneficial effect of reading on people's mental health led to the emergence of bibliotherapy, which implies the directed use of literature in the treatment of people with various emotional problems or psychological disorders,˝ says M.Sc. Miletić.
He states that bibliotherapy is used in our country as part of other types of therapy, while in the USA and Great Britain it is much more popular and is used as an independent therapeutic method. ˝Bibliotherapy is applicable for almost all age groups and can be carried out individually or within a group.˝
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