According to a survey of the satisfaction and policy needs of the elderly reading group in Beijing, the main demand of the elderly in Beijing to participate in reading activities is to have a fixed space for the elderly to read and not have to travel long distances. The reporter recently interviewed Xue Xiaoping, the founder of Silver Age College, and the participants of the elderly reading activity, whose love and dedication to reading and their desire for a fixed reading space are empathetic.
"Old Drift" Finds "Home" Through Reading Activities
The survey was carried out by the Capital Institute of Cultural Innovation and Cultural Communication Engineering of Beijing Normal University, and the survey was conducted through questionnaire surveys, which investigated the composition of the elderly reading group, the development of reading activities, the participation in reading, and the main demands of the elderly.
According to the survey, the typical characteristics of the elderly reading group in Beijing are high education, high income and high demand, and 65% of the elderly reading group in Beijing are Beijing natives, about 28% are "old drifters" who need to bring children to Beijing, and about 7% belong to migrant workers. Unlike other regions, the structure of the elderly reading group in Beijing is more complex, with a considerable proportion of "old drifters" and "elderly migrant workers", and this part of the population leaves their familiar hometowns, away from close friends, and carries out limited social activities in their leisure time.
Lu Qinghong and his wife came to Beijing from Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia in 2006, living with their daughter, "When I first came to Beijing, I found that there were so many rich cultural activities in Beijing, but I just felt that I couldn't integrate into it." After many years of wandering, Lu Qinghong and his wife entered the Silver Age Academy, "We feel different when we enter the reading group, and we feel at home." They participated in the reading drama performance together at Yinling Academy, Shen Congwen's "Laba Congee", Lu Qinghong played "Mother", his wife played "Father", and in Chekhov's "Chameleon", Lu Qinghong's wife played Inspector Ochu Contemptuouslov, and she played the chef. "We performed everywhere together, wrote reading notes, and opened a WeChat public account together, and our lives were particularly fulfilling and our feelings were deeper." Lu Qinghong said.
He has a special love for offline reading activities
The elderly in Beijing will participate in online and offline reading activities, but offline reading activities are still their first choice, and they have discovered a new self in offline activities and obtained a happy experience.
The survey shows that about 73% of the elderly prefer online and offline reading activities, about 24% of the elderly prefer to read offline, and only 3% prefer online reading. The survey results show that offline reading activities can provide a platform for the elderly to discuss and communicate, they can go out of the house, rebuild social ties, and enhance the happiness of the elderly; secondly, the form of offline reading activities is more abundant, both reading and tasting activities can be carried out, and reading dramas, drama performances, and movie-watching activities can be carried out; finally, offline reading activities can also provide convenience for the elderly who do not use smart phones or live broadcast platforms, and these elderly people are also included in the reading array. In addition, it is worth noting that the elderly in Beijing prefer to read for free, but a quarter of the elderly are still willing to pay for reading (less than 100 yuan per person).
Xie Shumin, 66 years old, retired from a middle school in Mentougou a few years ago, did nothing every day, suddenly felt lost, once suffered from anxiety disorders, and sought medication. From the second half of 2020, she entered Yinling College under the influence of her friends, "Teacher Xue Xiaoping gave lectures in the group, interpreted works, I wrote homework, wrote impressions, handed in homework, busy every day, and no longer had time to think wildly." She said that after retiring, many of her books in the family were sold, and the pen could not be written, and once she regained reading and re-wrote, the long-lost happiness returned. Xie Shumin read "The Old Man and the Sea", "Siege of the City", "Border City", "Love in the Cholera Period", "Plague", etc. with her teacher, and she also read comparative reading under the guidance of the teacher, such as reading Shen Congwen's "Border City" with Kawabata Yasunari's "Snow Country", "To be honest, I prefer "Border City". ”
Xie Shumin has benefited from online activities, but more elderly people have indeed gained strong self-confidence because of offline activities. Xu Xinhong first saw O Henry's "Maggie's Gift" reading aloud rehearsal at the beginning of last year, "I think it's very interesting, I put the novel to life!" Later, she never reported the curtain, never acted, and rarely spoke in front of the crowd, she was pushed to the front desk, "Last year, I performed everywhere with everyone, rehearsed, participated in activities, and was too busy to be 'scheduled'. ”
The 62-year-old Jin Yilin said frankly: "Offline activities are more attractive, more intimate, and more capable of changing people than online activities." Last year, Jin Yilin became the heroine of the reading drama "Maggie's Gift", she also acted in "Liu Hulan", "Wildfire Spring Wind Fighting Ancient City", etc., she said that when she was in college, she was introverted and never thought she had such courage. Entering the school, the community, and the bookstore, Jin Yilin, together with other elderly people, brought her love of life and love of reading to everywhere.
The lack of fixed space became a pain in the heart
The main appeal of the elderly in Beijing to participate in reading activities is to have a fixed space for the elderly to read, and they do not have to travel long distances, and it is obvious that no fixed space has become their pain point.
The survey shows that the location of offline reading activities for the elderly is usually not fixed, and in order to save funds, the temporarily leased offline space is often relatively small and relatively simple, and can only be opened to the elderly with fewer places, and a large number of elderly people with needs are "difficult to find a ticket". In the survey, 66% of the elderly experienced traveling far to participate in the activity; 55% of the elderly said that they had experienced the remote location of the activity and the inconvenience of public transportation; 53% of the elderly experienced the limited number of places in the activity and needed to grab tickets to participate.
It is reported that for the future to carry out offline reading activities for the elderly, the elderly look forward to the most is "hope to be a fixed elderly activity space", of which the proportion of "very much hope" reached 66.7%, for the future offline reading space for the elderly, the elderly most hope that the offline reading space environment is elegant and clean, can provide a bathroom, have a comfortable seat, hope that the location is fixed, public transportation is convenient, etc.
It became normal for participants at Silver Age College to carry boxes around
"When we were young, we all had the Children's Palace, and when we were old, we were old children, and we wanted to find a place to have books and eat, and meet you at the same table and your first love." However, Xue Xiaoping, the founder of Yinling College, said that yinling college has been established for 15 years and has never found her fixed "home". "The old people and the old comrades-in-arms have a little side to see, but they found that there is no suitable place for the elderly, and we go to the café to drink coffee and do not invite people to meet." Xue Xiaoping said that a shopkeeper once told her very frankly that young people holding computers and IPads rendered the fashion atmosphere, while the elderly could not render the atmosphere.
Not only that, the reading notes of the elderly in Silver Age College are beautifully written and rich in feelings, and there are thousands of books that have been accumulated, and the old people's collections have stories, and the crafts done by the elderly are also wonderful, "These need a fixed place to display." Xue Xiaoping said.
Because there is no fixed place, the elderly can only fight guerrillas everywhere, "the elderly who love to read, in order to participate in high-quality reading activities, have to run to more than ten kilometers or even dozens of kilometers away from home, which is very inconvenient for the elderly who are older and not good at driving." Xue Xiaoping said that because they are temporarily agreed reading spaces, the offline reading activities for the elderly may also be cancelled due to the epidemic and meetings, which is the main reason why the elderly reading activities are difficult to be sustained normally.
Many participants in the event said that running around has become their daily routine, "We participated in the activity in Shunyi, got up at four o'clock in the morning, and many people took the subway and bus head bus, pulling boxes on and off the bus." Jin Yilin said. Xu Xinhong told reporters that the fifth floor of the Grand Canyon Cade Mall mall in Majiapu, the first basement floor of the Million Zhuang Book Building, and the private rooms of the hotel have left their figures for many rehearsal exercises.
In fact, over the years, Xue Xiaoping has looked for many places, but she later found that even if she took the money to rent a place, the other party was not willing. "They said, I am a property owner, a tenant, and the old man falls on his head and bumps, whose responsibility is it?"
Expert advice:
Every urban area should have an offline space for the elderly to read
(He Qicong, Associate Professor, Capital Institute of Cultural Innovation and Cultural Communication Engineering, Beijing Normal University)
As the political and cultural center of the country, Beijing should pay more attention to the effectiveness and obstacles of reading activities for the elderly, respond to the demands of the elderly reading groups in Beijing, optimize the promotion mechanism of reading activities for the elderly in Beijing, build it into a national model, and play a leading role in radiation.
Therefore, we recommend that all localities start from the idle vacated space in the streets and communities, and open a special reading space for the elderly in the urban area as a unit to ensure that the elderly can find a special reading activity space for the elderly in a place with a radius of no more than 10 kilometers from the residence and convenient public transportation. Public libraries and community libraries should also strengthen supporting facilities and environmental construction for elderly readers.
Moreover, we should give full play to the characteristics of physical bookstores as "many, live and wide", and encourage physical bookstores to open up some periods through policy guidance to meet the quality needs of the elderly: the elderly in Beijing have relatively high consumption capacity, so they have certain requirements for the high-quality environment and comfort of the reading space. Judging from the existing survey results, the ideal offline reading space for the elderly is matched with the physical bookstore environment above the medium level. The optimal time for reading for the elderly is during the day (10:00-12:00, 13:30-15:30) on weekdays, which coincides with the reading time of adults (weekends) and adolescents (after school). If the physical bookstore is willing to stagger the peak to open the elderly reading activities, it can achieve a win-win situation of bookstore drainage and elderly reading. In order to encourage physical bookstores, the government should bear the matching work and leasing costs, and award the "Beijing Elderly Reading Base" to the physical bookstores with remarkable activities. This can be a good solution to the current problem of the lack of stable space for elderly reading.
Whether it is a library, a community street vacated space or a physical bookstore, we should ultimately try to ensure that each urban area has at least one dedicated offline space for elderly reading.
The government should organize experts to formulate reading service standards for the elderly according to local conditions, and carry out reading service training for the elderly for reading organizations, libraries, street community reading spaces, physical bookstores and other institutions related to reading for the elderly. Including providing large-character reading materials for the elderly, organizing reading service training, and training elderly reading leaders. Train community personnel, elderly reading activity volunteers, bookstore managers, nursing home managers, library librarians, etc., strengthen their awareness of serving the elderly, standardize service behaviors, and optimize the service effect for elderly reading activities.