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Once upon a time loving books was easy

By Ben O'Mara
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A man holding a Kindle e-reader (AFP: Mario Tama)
A man holding a Kindle e-reader (AFP: Mario Tama)
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It’s no secret that the way we read books is changing. At the recent Meanland ‘Evolution of the Bookstore’ panel discussion , however, I was one of the huge crowd of punters that raised their hands when asked if they still purchased second hand books.

Zora Sanders aptly notes that “people are not reading less or buying fewer books… The problem is not that books themselves are dying, but that traditional ideas about bookshops are dying.”

Cheap versions of print books online or books downloaded to the Kindle and iPad are causing us to question the role of the brick and mortar bookstore, and the value of its social experience, that tactile and emotional pleasure of exploring hundreds of titles on the shelves and in person with other book lovers. It is a nostalgic view, but has been pitched by some booksellers as important for celebrating book culture and lifting our appreciation of words beyond a consideration of price.

A passion for books is not bound to an Amazon account or a bookstore in the street. While I enjoy spending time at Readings in Melbourne, the love of reading and storytelling that has made my relationship with words a life long affair, grew from my patient parents who spent many hours after work reading with me as a child, the teachers who encouraged my writing skills throughout school, and those endless nights at Yarra Plenty Public Library searching for Roald Dahl novels and Asterix comics.

Loving books was easy because they were accessible and the people around me helped to create the experience inviting and engaging.

Books, in print or online, are an essential part of life. They are integral to literacy development, which is crucial for all people, especially newly-arrived refugee and migrant families. Our work at Victoria University has found that an increasing reliance on the use of digital platforms for information including books risks excluding particular sub-groups of people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

As Jacinda Woodhead remarks in reference to William Gibson, “…in some places of the world there are people without access to the internet or technology”.

Yet the way we use technology doesn’t have to limit engagement with books. There is clear potential for using digital devices with books in ways that are sensitive to level of skill, language and affordability, such as for the use of literacy development. Researchers in Canada have established that a ‘multi-literacies’ project with children was able to create a multilingual space in classes where books and technology were used to teach language awareness, appreciation of multiculturalism and develop a sense of pride in languages of the homeland.

Literature from children’s books was reworked and re-modelled using community languages and iMovie, Kid Pix and digital video cameras. Participants had time to learn how to use the technology in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways, and this helped to make the books used and created in the project relevant and accessible.

Others argue for similar multimodal, multilingual approaches to literacy development using books and technology, and cite examples such as the scanning of print materials for families to support home language development, sourcing and borrowing books and other items from libraries to complement existing resources, and authoring electronic books in multiple languages.

In Australia, evidence also suggests that while literacy development requires engagement with a range of technology devices, the interactions between teachers and learners are fundamental to building confidence and skill for reading, and that reading practice must continually be refined to create more inclusive education environments. Technology is important, but only one part of the reading experience.

Our habits as readers and book lovers will shape this period of transition and uncertainty in the publishing industry. If building on the positive social relationship we have with books is necessary to sustain a culture of words and storytelling online and in print, then bookstores cannot perform this task alone.

We must continue to support access to books for everyone, and beyond the often narrow objectives of the commercial sector. Libraries, schools and families are important players in the publishing game, and a natural place to affirm and continue our love of books in all their many technological forms.

Ben O'Mara is a writer, filmmaker and researcher at Victoria University.

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