Week 16 Prompt: The Once & Future Book

Changes in Reading and Books Since I Was a Child

Personally, I think one of the biggest changes in my reading habits since childhood is that I am now much less likely to browse books on a library shelf.  I used to love scanning titles from book spines, and that delicious moment when you’ve decided on a title that seems worth reaching out your hand to grasp and slide off the shelf.  You drink in the cover art and then flip it open to read the inside jacket synopsis or back cover blurbs.  (Ooh, yes!  This one looks good!)

These days, I do tons of canvassing for books online – Amazon, Goodreads, etc.  By the time I enter a library I know exactly what book I’m looking for and where to find it in that collection.  Online retailers, social media, and library OPACs have made my browsing far more efficient, but quite a bit less fun.

I also didn’t have so many format choices as a child.  I enjoy using my Kindle for some leisure reading, although a print book will always be my preferred medium.  But the most significant change for me in book format has been the addition of audiobooks to my reading repertoire.  The ability to read books while driving and doing housework has greatly expanded my available reading time.  And the more format options I have available, the more conscious I become of the act of reading itself.  Whichever medium we use in any given moment, reading is an act, a choice.  I loved Ursula K. LeGuin’s description that “reading is active, an act of attention, of absorbed alertness” (LeGuin, p. 37).  [Did you note all that lovely alliteration? Very, very nice.]  The reader is engaging in a sort of contract with the author, and dozens of others -- editors, publishers, marketers -- have added their two cents to the transaction.  (And BTW, I can highly recommend the class S681: The Book for anyone who might be interested in book history.) 

The Future of Reading and Books

Many years ago I attended a demonstration in Chicago for a personal electronic reading device called “Alice.”  It was named in honor of Alice in Wonderland and we were fascinated at the idea that we could electronically search for individual words and even link to a dictionary for definitions.  This was almost a decade before anyone had heard the terms Kindle, Nook, or iPad.  After the demo, we were asked to complete a group survey about whether or not we could see a device like Alice becoming popular and what kinds of reading material we might use it for.  The people in my focus group agreed that it was fun to experiment with, but not something we would ever enjoy reading from in bed at night.  Our group suggested that such a device might be extremely useful for reference materials like encyclopedia, almanacs, and maps, since we thought its best feature was quick searchability.

The main lesson to be learned from this tale is that I am pretty lousy at predicting the future!  These days I do use a Kindle for some leisure reading, but dislike using it for textbooks or fact finding – essentially the exact opposite of my focus group recommendations.

It’s hard for me to predict what format books might take in the future.  The move toward digitalization is changing the reading landscape, and most publishers have not adapted quickly to changes that consumers appear to be embracing.  In her essay from this week’s readings, Diane Wachtell points out that the vast majority of ebooks are digitalized versions of existing print books.  But the simplicity of electronic publishing makes alternative options such as self-publishing and independent publishing far more viable than they once were.  Wachtell reminds us that book jackets, design, page layout, displays, etc. are marketing devices, not intrinsic components of the book itself.  “They are window dressing to attract attention to an underlying lofty idea that can open the window onto a new way of seeing the world.  We can live without the window dressing, but the world would be a much darker place without the windows” (Wachtell, p. B12).

No, I don’t think print books are going away in my lifetime.  But while I will always prefer the tactile sense of holding a codex form book, I do wonder if ancient Romans scoffed at the idea that any other format could ever replace the scroll.  (And before that, the chiseled tablet?)

And the future of reading?  Well, if reading ever fades away, I'd have to move to another planet.  Oh, no!  That brings me right back around to the name of my blog.  Maybe I really will be the First Librarian on the Moon!  

References:

Germano, W., DiLeo, J., & Wachtell, D.  (Oct. 1, 2010).  Fate of the book.  The Chronicle Review.

LeGuin, U.K.  (Feb., 2008).  Staying awake: Notes on the alleged decline of reading.  Harper’s Magazine, 316(1893).