I’ve been thinking about this post for a couple of weeks. At first it was going to be a rant about the importance of accepting reading in different formats as reading. But, I’ve done that. Then it was going to be a post about how reading isn’t about format but about content. But, I’ve don’t that. Then it was going to be a post about lending clubs for digital devices. I just kept having different ideas about what a post related to technology and reading should focus on. Instead of selecting just one topic, I decided to write a post that covers a variety of topics related to the world of reading in the digital age. Here goes.
- A little less then two years ago I wrote on this blog about the fact that I was reading more than ever because I was reading books using the Kindle app on my iPhone. Since that post I have only read one book in traditional physical form – a manga title that wasn’t available as an ebook at the time I needed to read it. That means in almost two years I have pretty much solely read digitally. I actually enjoy telling people that because I like to see the reactions I get. I get everything from no reaction at all, which is great, to “How could that be? Don’t you miss the feel, the smell, the whatever of the physical book.” The answer is “No, I don’t miss anything about the feel, the smell, the whatever of the physical book.”
Where am I going with this? Two years ago I was more unique, as a non-physical book reader, then I am today. But yet, I still talk to librarians who are amazed by the fact and possibility of reading solely on devices. The amazement is something that has to go away. More and more teens are reading this way – check out this article from last week’s New York Times – and this survey from O’Reilly (both also just posted in the Tweets of the Week) and librarians need to be there too. Even if you don’t have a device or stil like to read a physical book, it’s important to not judge the non-physical book reader for his or her preference. And, it’s important to try it out just to see how it works. (You can’t knock it before you’ve tried it, right?)
- Recently Overdrive, a popular vendor of digital content for libraries, made it possible to read their books on a variety of devices – including Droid devices and Apple devices. This is a great thing as it means that teens can access library materials on the devices that they carry around in their pockets. But, I’ve found that for many libraries, when it comes to this Overdrive expansion, the focus is primarily, if not solely, on the mechanics of using Overdrive – how do teens check out a book and get it on their device? There is nothing wrong with that. We do need to know the how.
However, there is so much more to pay attention to related to what’s going on with ereading that if the focus becomes just the device and the circulation we are missing important opportunities. I equate this to teen librarians only focusing on the circ. system used for checking out physical books. But, with physical books there is a lot more than the circ. system that teen
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