This thesis investigates the leisure-time reading habit of elders in Shanghai, the largest city of China. The study explored the role of reading of Shanghai elders in their entire leisure-time habitual activities and the temporal changes of the reading behaviors in Shanghai elders from 1998 to 2008. The data come from the Shanghai Longitudinal Survey of Elderly Life and Opinion (SLOSELO), which has been conducted in 1998, 2003, 2005 and 2008. I find that reading is one of the major leisure-time activities in Shanghai elderly population, and in recent years, the reading habits becomes more popular when demographic factors such as age, gender and rural/urban residence are under control. I also find out that such an increasing trend of reading could be explained by the improvement of socioeconomic and health improvement in Shanghai elders. This study calls for attentions of the local librarians to adjust their information service for an increasing group of old age
