Recently, the findings of the National Endowment for the Arts literacy report were published and, as the Boston Globe reported, produced a prodigious amount of hand wringing from librarians, educators, parents and publishers. The report highlighted the continuing decline of reading proficiency. Proficiency, as the term is used in the report, is defined as being able to read the daily newspaper.
The primary reasons cited were the faltering educational system, media distractions and gadgets that change the nature of the reading experience. Patricia S. Schroeder, president of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), suggested the decline in reading among children could be related to the lack of available books that interest them. Paradoxically, the AAAP reported that sales in the Children /Young Adult hardcover category year-to-date were up by 63.0 percent and the Children /Young Adult paperback category increased by 4.4 percent for the year.
Worldwide reading scores produced by the Progress in International Reading LIteracy Study showed which countries were doing well and which weren’t. Russia, Singapore and Hong Kong scored best. Rounding out the top 10 were Luxembourg, Italy, Hungary, Sweden, Germany, The Netherlands and Flemish-speaking parts of Belgium. The US ranked 14th, England 15th. The study was conducted by Boston College and assessed the ability of 215,000 fourth graders to read literary and informational texts. The worst performances came from South Africa, Morocco, Kuwait, Qatar, Indonesia, Iran, Trinidad and Tobago, Macedonia, Georgia and Romania. The study covered 40 countries in all.
So does this spell doom for book publishers? I think not. Books are the oldest media and are constantly evolving as the reading habits and needs of civilization evolve. Books trump all other media for adaptability. As an example:
- Print on demand and web marketing made book publishing the first participative media vs. just a spectator sport
- Books are the ultimate fragmented media, serving ever more finely delineated market niches
- Books have been deconstructed into other forms - cell phones, e-books, audio books
- Book have been time sliced for our convenience - delivered in parts via e-mail or available for rental like a NetFlix DVD
- Books are becoming more visual - for example, manga and the graphic novel
- Books have explored the social domain both online - ala LibraryThing, Shelfari and book widgets - and offline, as can be seen in the exploding popularity of book clubs
All of these bode well for books and reading. I think it is just the transitions that make us uncomfortable, like a little turbulence on a long flight.
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December 6, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Though I’m a former librarian, I agree that there’s too much angst over this report. Reading proficiency may be decline but other type of learning proficiencies are rising through new patterns in information seeking behavior and use.
Seems like the opportunity for publishers is greater than ever as long as they’re looking beyond just the printed book on the store shelves.
December 7, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Hi Jeff -
I think publishers will rise to the challenge. The book has gone through major adaptations over the centuries and will continue to change.
I still think one major evolution that will occur for the printed book is the incorporation of pages printed with conductive ink and controlled by computer chips embedded in the spine or cover of the book. This would allow ordinary printed pages to be maipuloated like windows on a computer screen. There is immense possibility in that - but also a lot of technology and interaction design work that needs to happen first.