Most of us read for fun, and some read for professional development. But there is a group of people who read as a primary part of their job. Reading is involved at some level in most professions, and these jobs wouldn’t exist without reading.

• Librarians: I did an entire chapter on libraries and librarians. So it should come as no surprise that this job makes the list. Librarians wouldn’t have a job if other people didn’t read. But it’s also important for them to read so that they know what books to recommend. Plus, they have to be able to organize the book titles on the shelves.
• Editors: Editors come in many different shapes and forms. There are book editors, copy editors, newspaper editors, blog editors. They all have different responsibilities, but the main thing they all have in common is reading. All editors do a lot of reading. I’ve had a few different editor jobs, so I know this from personal experience.
• English teachers: All teachers in general have to do a lot of reading, but English teachers depend on reading even more so. This is mainly because they grade essays, book reports and occasionally teach kids how to read.
• Literary agents: These are the folks who represent authors to the book publishing companies. They have regular clients and read lots of manuscripts and pitches to find new prospective authors to represent. Their job depends on being able to tell who can write what other people want to read.
• Book reviewers: How will the public know what books are good or bad without the critical help of literary reviewers? These folks make a living by reading books and then writing articles about what they just read. They’re like the nerdier version of film critics.
• Lawyers: Believe it or not, lawyers have to read a ton. Legal systems are notoriously verbose, so attorneys have to do quite a bit of reading to stay updated on the laws. I’ve had friends in law school who said they read up to 600 pages every day. No wonder these guys get paid so much money.
• Researchers: It doesn’t matter what you’re researching, it will likely require quite a bit of reading. Whether they’re employed by a publishing house or a university, the job of a researcher is to find information. That basically means searching and re-searching in text.
• Writers: Anyone who writes for a living also has to read for a living. That could be authors, journalists, or bloggers. That’s in part because you have to read your own writing to make sure it’s good. But also because you should read the writing of others to find out how you could make your writing better.