Readers and Readerships: An Encyclopaedia of Reading History was written and edited in Winter, 2012, by students in SMC 229HS Readers and Readerships, a core course in the Book and Media Studies program at St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto.

All the contributors are current undergraduate students—and devoted readers. Writing and editing these encyclopaedia entries was a stage in the development of their final research projects. This collection, therefore, represents a starting point, work-in-progress, rather than perfect polish. We’re pleased to be able to open up this initial research and reveal part of our class’s entry the into the history of reading.

Gathered together, the work of these students displays their inspiring array of interests, a diversity that has met and reflected the myriad faces of readers in history with brio and enthusiasm. We invite you to explore their studies in the six chapters in the Table of Contents, Public Reading, Reading and Human Rights, Personal Reading Experiences, Gendered Reading, Young Readers, and e-Reading, or by clicking on topics in our Index, er, “Tag Cloud.” Learn, discover, disagree, poke about, enjoy.

-Jessica Duffin Wolfe
Instructor, Readers and Readerships, SMC 229HS
April, 2012