Will the new National Library Board campaign get more people to read books?

: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Would you read regularly if you were paid to do so? Natasha Ann Zachariah Updated Aug 13, 2026, PM Set as preferred source Listen Would you read regularly if you were paid to do so? The National Library Board (NLB) is hoping that people will develop a consistent reading habit . They need to spend at least 15 minutes on the activity each day. But why does the library have to incentivise us to read for fun? What do we lose when we no longer read, especially if we’re choosing to doomscroll instead? In this episode of The Usual Place, I speak with: Associate Professor Loh Chin Ee from the National Institute of Education, who researches people’s reading habits, and Chris Koh, the programme director of the National Reading Movement Read Natasha’s articles: https://str. sg/iSXm Follow The Usual Place podcast on IG: https://str. sg/8KNT Follow Natasha on LinkedIn: https://str. sg/v6DN Filmed by: Studio+65 Edited by: Teo Tong Kai, Hadyu Rahim and Natasha Liew Executive producer: Danson Cheong Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah, Elizabeth Law and Zachary Lim Channel: https://str. sg/5nfm Apple Podcasts: https://str. sg/9ijX Spotify: https://str. sg/cd2P YouTube: https://str. sg/theusualplacepodcast --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str. sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str. sg/stpodcasts --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str. sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.