Posted on: November 18, 2013
The Library is introducing a brand new leisure reading collection called TRU Reads. This collection of books, located in the House of Learning Library (3rd floor HOL), features popular novels and non-fiction titles for your reading pleasure. Because sometimes you need to take break.
Maybe you just need something to read on the bus, or over the holiday. Maybe you want to check out the books behind Game of Thrones , or see what the Fifty Shades phenomenon is all about. It might seem strange to think of reading for fun when you’re 
buried deep in a textbook, but pick up Harry Potter for a few minutes and you’re suddenly a world away. This is one stress management technique students can use during the stressful parts of the semester. Taking a break just long enough to read a chapter or two will refresh you to keep on studying.
Believe it or not, reading for fun is actually good for you! A recent review of research in
International Read Symbol
this area found that “Leisure reading makes students more articulate, develops higher order reasoning, and promotes critical thinking. In addition, it improves reading comprehension and helps develop writing style” (Dewan, 2010, p. 48). Reading a book purely for interest’s sake might just help your academic reading skills. This may be especially true for students of English as a second language, who are still developing their skills in grammar and vocabulary; pleasure reading may actually enhance their comprehension of academic texts (Constantino, 1994). For these reasons, the Library believes pleasure reading is an important part of lifelong learning.
TRU Reads has lots to choose from including bestsellers in mystery, thrillers, romance, and science fiction. In the online catalogue, the location of these books will show as 
“Leisure Collection”. These books may be borrowed for four weeks. Or hang out and read awhile in our cozy seating area. Come check out the TRU Reads Leisure Collection in the House of Learning Library!
View a sample of our titles on the TRU Reads research guide: http://libguides.tru.ca/trureads
Enter our contest to help launch TRU Reads!
Dewan, P. (2010). Why your academic library needs a popular reading collection now more than ever. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 17(1), 44-64. doi:10.1080/10691310903584775
Constantino, R. (1994). Pleasure reading helps, even if readers don’t believe it. Journal of Reading, 37(6), 504-505.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40032260
– Submitted by: Wendy Lehar, Reference and Instruction Librarian
