Don’t Forget the Small Towns: The Importance of Promoting Books to Young Readers in Rural Areas, a guest post by Victoria Wlosok

The first time I met a living-and-breathing author, I was in sixth grade. I don’t remember the event specifics, but I remember my anticipation and awe—my classmates and I were from Sylva, North Carolina. (The population in 2014 was 2,600.) We didn’t get school visits. We had a Battle of the Books circuit that never advanced past Regionals, a library full of battered hardcovers, and an administration that stopped handing out Pizza Hut BOOK IT! coupons halfway through junior high. Our county seemed to care more about sports than literacy: it was dominated by Carolina-Panthers-sponsored Astroturf, track-and-field state record announcements, and dusty championship banners that dangled from the rafters of our molding gym.

In short, an author visit in our neck of the woods felt like a gift from the literary gods. And for me, in a lot of ways that mattered, it was.

Even though I loved reading from an early age, the prevailing narrative within my rural town sometimes made it difficult. Being bookish was never a strength in Sylva. None of our teachers talked to us about publishing, or creative writing, or applying to student competitions. We read The Outsiders for class without learning S.E. Hinton was fifteen when she started writing it. All of this compounded so that by the time I was ten, I dismissed my love of literature as a frivolous hobby. My once-voracious appetite for books dwindled to almost nothing as a tween; I became so defamiliarized with the concept of authors that they started to seem as unreachable as astronauts or American presidents. But after that sixth-grade school visit, I rediscovered my passion for the written word. Meeting an author face-to-face empowered me; it allowed me to realize writers were real people. Normal people. People like me. At the time, this knowledge was revolutionary. I left the event feeling more certain than ever about my love for reading. This time, my devotion felt unshakable.

That was the only school visit I attended until I moved to a larger city for college at the age of eighteen, where I was subsequently blown away by the frequency and volume of author events right at my fingertips (many of which were frequently headlined with literary superstars). But now that I’m older, I can’t help but think about all the kids who grew up (or are growing up) in towns even smaller than mine—the kids who might be slowly losing their love for reading because they have yet to see it valued in their community or reflected in the people around them. The kids like me.

That’s part of why I’m writing this guest post for the Mind the Middle Project, I think—because I’m worried tweens and young teens, especially those in rural communities, are being left behind. I’m nervous they aren’t coming into contact with enough role models they can point to and say, “If they love reading, so can I.” I’m afraid they’re being forgotten. So I want to know: Where are they now? How are they doing? And most importantly, what do they need from us?

Now more than ever, as we navigate a post-COVID world rife with nationwide learning loss, we need to make a concentrated effort to electrify young readers in rural areas. Readers of all backgrounds need to interact early and often with people who will engage them in literary spheres; unfortunately, however, not all readers are afforded nearly the same opportunities to do so. Tweens and young teens are often overlooked when it comes to books that fit the demographic for 13 – 15 year olds—tweens and young teens in rural areas, however, desperately need books that fit their demographic and improved access to author events, school visits, and knowledgeable educators. It is up to us to close the literacy gap, bridge political divides, and push for engaging programming to keep kids reading. But we also have to stop leaving rural readers out of the conversation. Collectively, we must do better at promoting literacy across the board.

At the same time, I know advocating for kids from rural communities is easier said than done. Remote areas are not without their challenges—book banning disproportionately affects small towns, for example, as rural communities are the most likely to hold extremist religious values. Book tours are expensive, too, and publishing is ultimately a business—each stop must be chosen with cost-effective cities at top-of-mind. But when the same locales are flooded with authors time and time again while young readers in rural areas get little to nothing, we must acknowledge this distributional disparity. And we must work to do better.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I’m still finding my footing in publishing, and it feels like I learn something new every day from someone who has been in the game for much longer than I have. But I know how much it meant to me as a kid to have just a taste of what it’s like to engage with literature in a way that invigorates you. And I hope for that experience for every other young reader as well.

I’ll leave you with this: please don’t forget the tweens and teens growing up in small towns. Do some outreach. Expand your list of contacts. Authors, call underfunded libraries on the outskirts of your hometown to ask if they’d like to take a few extra hardcovers off your hands. Keep smaller schools in mind for your future events. When you can, write books that fill niches for underserved communities. Educators, forge connections with those outside your immediate circle. Pay attention to those who are starved for resources. Understand that not every locale will have the same issues, attitudes, or needs. Librarians, keep fighting the good fight against book banning. Don’t lose hope. Continue to create bookish programming that engages tweens and young teens in urban, suburban, and rural areas alike. Together, all of us can strive to show middle schoolers and young tweens that they’re not alone, that they can keep reading throughout high school, and that there are books out there which feature kids like them, no matter where they’re from.

Meet the Author

Hello! I’m Victoria Wlosok, author of the sapphic YA thriller How to Find a Missing Girl released by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on September 19th, 2023. I’m a college student, a first-generation American, and an (amateur) connoisseur of iced coffee—especially on the nights I’m up writing chapters on deadline, reading over lecture notes for my business classes, or playing choice-based video games. You can find me on TikTok, X, and Instagram at @xvictoriawrites. Visit her webpage at: https://www.victoriawlosok.com/home (author bio from author webpage)

Filed under: Middle Grade Fiction, Mind the Middle, Mind the Middle Project