Teenagers: reading and the Internet in everyday life

The article examines reading habits of teenagers in the era of leisure and online-expansion, and the future of books. It considers reading interest of children living in well-equipped 'media-rich homes' and their dependence on reading. Author also analyses correlation between presence of a library at adolescents' homes, reading habits and Internet activity. The study is based on a survey of 10-11-year olds from large and smaller cities of the Urals Federal District. To verify conclusions, the author compares her data with other studies performed on adolescents' leisure and their online activities. Key findings are: students who have the habit of reading have very specific Internet activity features; that reading today is not related to the problem of teenager's home media equipment and majority of children who choose book reading as their main leisure have home libraries. In addition, research revealed deficiency in the field of exploration of contemporary forms of reading (such as e-reading).