By Julia Talan

At 11:16 p.m., a student scrolls through a PDF file on their laptop. The text is dense and packed, and the pages run long. Canvas tabs remain open next to it, looming over the window. Somewhere along highlighted significant terms and informational annotations, reading loses its explorative nature. Suddenly, it is nothing but a requirement, an act needed to get by. It is transformed from a world of imagination and curiosity, an escape, into an inescapable extension of reality — work.

In their 2026 ranking, Times Higher Education (THE) placed Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) as the number one private and top university in the Philippines within its global bracket (THE, 2026). With a long list of academic accolades to its name and an admissions process that is widely regarded among students as demanding, ADMU carries a positive reputation within the education community. As the university is revered for intellectual rigor, reading is assumed. After all, although not true to everybody, many often relate reading and intelligence to one another. 

There is a preconceived notion that readers are intelligent individuals. Journal Storage (JSTOR) finds that standardized test-taking at times prioritizes reading over other, possibly more relevant, knowledge and skills. Goodman (2026) writes, “In attempts to relate intelligence and reading, we create artifacts to measure reality, and then, somehow, begin thinking of them as if they, themselves, were reality.” ADMU is no exception to this phenomenon, seeking ways to encourage reading. However, at times, the “spark” of reading is lost due to a loss of true engagement.

One way the university fosters this “culture of reading” is through its accessible libraries, all filled with a wide array of written media. 

What are Ateneans Reading?

Hard-bound, nonfictional, and purely academic literature is not the only kind of writing checked out at the ASHS library.  

On paper, Ateneans are made to read a lot. As students have access to thousands of books, journals, magazines, manga, databases, and more through the Ateneo Library System, scarcity is far from being an issue.  The Ateneo Library acts as a primary center for educational resources at ADMU across multiple campus libraries.  Required readings encompass a wide range of texts, including contemporary works, journals, literary pieces, and case studies — all of which the library has to offer. Even so, this does not encompass everything offered on the shelves. Students can also walk out of the ASHS library with a romance novel, manga, magazine, or other type of non-schoolwork-related material in hand.

The library has an incredibly wide selection of texts, including the non-fiction and fiction types mentioned. However, the presence of access does not always guarantee engagement.

On a global scale, reading habits among young people are transforming. Studies by the Pew Research Center show that younger generations are increasingly consuming shorter, digital texts rather than long-form material, with fewer people reporting that they read books regularly for pleasure (Pew Research Center, 2012). As people get more and more accustomed to the standard social media format, they start seeking short-form content to consume. In the Philippine context, the National Book Development Board (NBDB) similarly notes that while Filipinos do read, much of this reading now occurs online and outside traditional book formats (NBDB, 2020).

Within Ateneo, this change becomes evident. Students may be reading PDFs, screenshots of texts shared in group chats, or required readings. The question then becomes not whether Ateneans are exposed to texts, but whether they are absorbing them fully or only in fragments.

How are Ateneans reading?

The way students read has changed just as much as what they read. Academic reading today often happens on screens, interrupted by notifications, multitasking, and other distractions. Research consistently shows that while students prefer digital texts for convenience, comprehension and retention tend to be stronger when reading print materials (Baron, 2015).

Neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf warns that digital reading habits may be rewiring how readers process information, favoring speed and skimming over reflection and deep analysis (Wolf, 2018). When students are assigned multiple readings per week across different subjects, reading can easily become mechanical.

In this context, reading risks becoming transactional. Subjects such as Reading & Writing, Komunikasyon at Pananaliksik sa Wika at Kulturang Pilipino, Oral Communication, and 21st-century Literature from the Philippines and the World, which the ASHS includes in its module according to the core curriculum of the Department of Education (DepEd), mandate reading texts of all kinds. Students read pages of long handouts in compliance with the requirement, to pass quizzes, or to complete papers, but not necessarily to grapple with new ideas. As the OECD emphasizes, true reading literacy involves critical engagement, interpretation, and reflection, not just decoding text (OECD, 2019). Whether current structures and scheduling allow space for this kind of reading remains an open question.

Why do Ateneans read?

Motivation sits at the heart of reading culture. According to Self-Determination Theory, students can be driven either by innate motivation — curiosity, interest, personal meaning — or external pressures like grades and it being mandatory (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

In highly competitive academic environments, like the one in ADMU, external pressures often dominate. Studies on student burnout and academic pressure suggest that elite universities, while offering opportunities, also foster cultures where performance takes precedence over process, as stated in a study by Hetrick et al. (2019). Within Ateneo, readings are often closely tied to assessments, reinforcing the idea that reading is something to be “done” rather than explored.

Ateneans read constantly. Access to texts is incredibly abundant, and exposure to reading is unavoidable due to it being a requirement. However, the sheer volume of assigned material, coupled with the digital medium, often reshapes reading into a duty of compliance rather than exploration. The question is not whether students read, but whether they are given the time, space, and freedom to engage truly with what they read. In a university that values academic excellence, encouraging a culture of meaningful reading requires moving beyond quantity toward curiosity and critical thought, which will transform reading from obligation into understanding.