THIS is apropos of the article ‘The pleasure of reading’ by Zubeida Mustafa (May 9).

Reading habits are declining indeed. However, it is not reasonable to lament it on the low literacy rate. It was rather a book’s function to raise the literacy rate.

Books ‘could reach where no schools, colleges or universities could be built. It did not happen due to many reasons, not difficult to discern with a little and appropriate thinking. This vacuum was mostly filled by the print and electronic media. Needless to say that newspapers and television programmes nowadays take more time of a reader than books.

The writer has said succinctly that most of the books being published at present are not raising our knowledge.

Hopefully, the decline in reading habits can be reversed easily by valuing good authors and quality books.

ASHRAF NAUSHAHI      Karachi