Do you read enough?

Do you read enough? I'm not talking about 100s or 1000s of 140 character tweets. I'm not talking about 500 word blog posts. I'm talking about really reading ... a well-thought out article, research paper, a book ....

When was the last time you read something that really made you think or taught you something?

Somehow I got away from reading quality in-depth materials. On the internet, people generally want to read short and quick items. These have value, don't get me wrong, but those pieces are meant to share knowledge in small bits or to spark an idea.

I started reading an article on FastCompany.com  and got to the bottom and saw it had 5 pages. What? FIVE pages? Crazy, right? I realized I had the actual magazine and hadn't read it. So, I got off my computer and read it magazine in hand. There is something to be said for reading it that way, I learned tonight. But, I'll save that for another day.

There is a credit union in Chicago where the IT department takes every Friday afternoon to learn. Each employee can decide on their own what they want to read. It can be a book, magazine, technology manual, web materials - anything. The manager feels it is important for the employees to continue to learn, and learning doesn't mean a webinar or sitting in a classroom. 

Do your employees read industry news? CU Times or CU Journal? Credit union magazines? Wall Street Journal? Banking newspapers or magazines? Business resources? Blogs? Twitter? All of these resources have value for employees.

If an employee were "caught" reading one of the above resources would they be told "Get back to work!"?  

Learning stimulates the mind and makes for better employees. I know I'm going to make a concerted effort to start reading a variety of materials again. Please share what you generally read or what your credit union does or doesn't do now. Your suggestion will help others.