The emergence of readership was an essential aspect of the cultural shift that affected the Ottoman Arab provinces following the adoption of printing in the nineteenth century. It was a manifold development in its geographical spread, the social sections it encompassed, its impact on inter-generational relations, and its bearing on the region's thought and discourse. The paper will focus on one aspect of this change: the entry of children and youth into the circle of readers, and its implications. The efforts to lift society's literacy level by building schooling systems naturally caused the readership to expand, most conspicuously, at the bottom of the age-pyramid. A great many of those who experienced the thrills of becoming readers were young people. Personal descriptions of that experience from different parts of the region shed much light on various facets of the process: difficult economic circumstances, wanting infrastructure, the dearth of appropriate reading materials, and the often-problematic gaps between the newly skilled youngsters and their illiterate parents, who were left behind. This will be illustrated through two early-twentieth century testimonies: that of Sayyid Qutb, who grew up in rural Upper Egypt, and that of Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, who spent his childhood in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem. Both have left accounts which depict in lively colors the experience of being a newcomer to the world of books. The former case will also illuminate another important aspect of the change: the spread of the practice of reading beyond the urban centers and into the countryside. Printed products did reach rural places, even those in the remote periphery, and linked their residents – again, mostly the younger generation – to the region's animated literary discourse. The change in these parts was slower than in the cities, but they were clearly being drawn into the circle.