The Harry Potter argument is valid only to a point. My kids were both swept up in it and devoured all the books. But absent the Potter cultural phenomenon, my son sticks mostly to bits and bites of info on the web. With Potter, there was the desire to do what your friends were doing, to go to the bookstore parties, to know the plots before the movies came out, etc. One series can't prove kids are really reading if it takes that much hoopla to get their noses in a book.

As far as the young man who said "online just gives you what you need," he wasn't referring to checking the headlines or the weather. He was researching the life and work of a US Chief Justice, which involves more than a collection of "facts." Granted, he was a high schooler and it was probably a simple report, but the larger question is, are kids lacking the attention span needed to enjoy books, in all their involved "detail." Is the web (which I use and think is great) contributing to this?

Michael Scully
Austin, TX