In an age of constant scrolling, college students are doing something unexpected: they’re picking up books again.
At the University of Miami, librarians and book club leaders say they’re watching a quiet cultural shift unfold: one driven not by grades or assignments, but by something much more personal.
“I think that with students, they need to give themselves a lot more grace with life,” said Elida Velado Salazar, first-year experience librarian at University Libraries. “Everything can feel very overwhelming when you’re here at college. But students have so much potential and are far more capable than they think.”
For many, reading is becoming the pause button they didn’t know they needed.
Velado Salazar sees the trend up close—in consultations, in first-year classes, and even in the library’s student book club, where she leads discussions on popular fiction titles.
She says reading offers something students rarely get in a fast-moving digital world: space.
“There’s a power in fiction,” Velado Salazar said. “You have the ability to disconnect from your own reality. It’s a nice way to unplug, especially with a print book.”
She believes students are drawn to reading now because it gives them control over their pace—a stark contrast to the rapid, algorithm-driven environment of social media.
“A book might take you a week or two weeks, and that’s okay,” she said. “There’s no rush. You read at your own speed.”
While some students are reading on their own, others are looking for connection.
Magaly Medina-Perez, president of the University’s Women’s Commission Book Club, has watched a growing number of people, namely faculty and staff members and students, come to book-related events not just to discuss novels, but to feel part of something bigger.
“People tell me all the time that even if they don’t come to book club, they read the books alongside us,” Medina-Perez said. “They love feeling connected to something bigger than them.”
That sense of belonging, she says, is often the real draw.
“When you’re planning to talk to other people about a book, you engage with it differently,” Medina-Perez said. “You notice the parts you want to share. You want to talk to somebody about it.”
In a campus environment, where many students feel pressure to make friends quickly, fiction can create an easy entry point.
“A book club gives you the opportunity to engage with people and feel comfortable,” Medina-Perez added. “It builds confidence, because you’re knowledgeable about something you read and can talk about.”
If there’s one place driving students back to books, it’s BookTok—the social media subculture where young readers recommend titles, dissect emotional endings, and turn niche genres into viral bestsellers.
Velado Salazar sees its influence in the types of books students check out.
“BookTok heavily shapes what people read,” she said. “You’re able to know your niche and what appeals to you because influencers group you into communities of readers with similar tastes.”
Romantasy books such as “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and “Fourth Wing”—titles mentioned by both Medina-Perez and Velado Salazar—are especially popular among students seeking immersive, emotionally intense stories.
Students aren’t just reading; they’re forming identities around the stories they love.
“You get to learn from other stories you wouldn’t necessarily experience in your own life,” Velado Salazar said. “It increases imagination in a really powerful way.”
Medina-Perez believes the renewed interest in reading stems from something deeper than trends.
“It’s the best way for students to slow down,” she said. “With a physical book, you can sit in a hammock or a comfy chair and take a minute to breathe.”
The Women’s Commission Book Club recently hosted a silent reading party on campus, where attendees brought their own books and simply read together for an hour. Medina-Perez hopes more students will show up at the next one.
“Reading gives you something to talk about,” she said. “You look at someone else’s book, ask what it’s about, and suddenly you’re connecting with someone new.”
Both she and Velado Salazar agree: in a time when many students feel lost or disconnected, reading offers grounding.
“It’s normal to feel lost in college,” Velado Salazar said. “But this is the perfect time to be lost. Everything works out in the end, even if it’s not the path you expected.”
They both hesitate to label the trend a full resurgence—but agree something is shifting.
“I think it’s making a comeback,” Medina-Perez said. “Gen Z and Gen Alpha live in an electronic world, and rushing and scrolling all the time makes reading feel like a relief. You can’t rush a book.”
Velado Salazar believes reading may look different over time, through audiobooks, social media recommendations, and digital platforms, but the desire itself isn’t fading.
“There will always be readers,” she said. “And it may just shift into new forms. But the interest is definitely increasing.”
As finals, deadlines, and screens continue to demand more of students’ attention, the return to reading, whether through trending fantasy novels or quiet on-campus book clubs, may reflect something larger: a generation searching for slowness, connection, and a way to feel more like themselves.
And sometimes all it takes is a book.
