Abstract: This study investigates the importance of reading and its influence on the societal values. Descriptive survey method was used to elicit information from 200 literate adults. The study attempts to find out if reading especially in the mother tongue will influence the development of positive attitude to societal values, make readers shun anti societal value behaviours and identify the desirable societal values. The findings of the study show that students can gain a lot from reading and can identify the values of their society and other societies. It also, indicates that readers are being influenced either positively or negatively by the materials they have read. The findings show that pupils can develop positive attitudes towards societal values or shun undesirable values if they are exposed to reading materials in their mother tongue. It was recommended among other things that teachers should teach students and encourage students to read materials written in their mother tongues. Teachers should endeavour to draw out the moral lessons in the texts studied by the students.