Week 11 Prompt Response

When I worked in my children’s school library, one of the kindergarten teachers would always remind the students to “hold your book like a treasure,” as they returned to their classroom. I understood what she meant because there were books that made me feel that way. Although the media are evolving, the basic appeal factors of the content remain the same. Individual preferences for certain media and genres continue to demonstrate the relevance of Ranganthan’s five laws.

Mediatore succinctly relates Saricks’ appeal factors to audiobooks. The narrator blends the four elements: pacing, characterization, story line, and frame together through their audible presentation of the book (Mediatore 318). The hands-free convenience of the format is a strong appeal factor. One of my coworkers is an avid audiobook user. She downloads audiobooks on her phone and listens to them when she prepares for programs. She has favorite narrators and will look for their names when choosing her next audiobook. My limited experience with audiobooks consists of listening to them when I am driving. I prefer to read (listen to) unabridged books, but am not familiar enough with narrators to have favorites. The reader’s presentation style, especially the sound of their voice, can either induce me to try the book, or convince me to replace it. I have noticed that track length affects my decision to listen to a book more than the number of pages affects my decision to read a book in print.  I feel as though I have less control over my reading when I listen to a book and can become impatient with the narrator’s pacing. When the reader and text (and music, if present) are well-matched, I can feel the same sense of engagement with an audiobook as I do with print.  One example is Stephen Fry’s reading of Michael Bond’s A Bear Called Paddington.

Cahill shares several appeal factors specific to audiobooks that encourage literacy development. This format can motivate reading, develop children’s vocabulary and language, and promote comprehension (Cahill 26). Educators reluctant to read multicultural materials themselves can incorporate multicultural audiobooks into their lesson plans (Cahill 26). Audiobooks are uniquely effective for learning other languages; the reader’s pronunciation and inflection are essential parts of foreign language fluency.

Ebooks are also convenient tools for reading. The ability to adjust font size and type, brightness, and other features makes reading accessible to people with print disabilities. Anyone can tailor those features to optimize their personal reading experience. Ebook readers are less cumbersome than carrying several books when traveling. Over spring break I downloaded a couple of ebooks on my phone and was able to carry and read them easily everywhere we went. I prefer to read print materials, so the ebooks are a good option to holding the actual book.

At work many children and their caregivers will ask for audiobooks on CD, but I still receive more requests for print materials than other formats. Our librarians make regular school visits to show students how to access our ebook collection, online homework tools, and to build awareness of those resources.

I rarely have patrons ask for specific ebooks, possibly because they prefer to use the library’s online services. Most ebook questions involve how to read or download the ebook on various electronic devices. Troubleshooting requests occur fairly often, too. The extra steps needed to read or listen to audiobooks and ebooks may be a deterrent for some readers. When I offer an ebook version or to look up a title on Libby/Overdrive or Hoopla, most patrons say that it is not necessary, they will do that when they get home. The patrons are more willing to accept my offer to put the physical item on hold.

In spite of the expense of ebooks (print and audio versions), it is incumbent on libraries to offer a wide range of formats to meet their patrons needs and preferences. In 2017, Overdrive adopted Vinjamuri’s suggestion of negotiating a cost per circulation (Vinjamuri). Maybe that is a sign of better publisher/library relations.  Mediatore offers a valuable RA tip for evaluating an audiobook (or other formats):  “Is the book a good listen, or a better read?” (Mediatore 322)

References

Cahill, M., & Moore, J. (2017). A sound history. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 15(1), 22–29. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier

Mediatore, K. (2003). Reading with your ears: Readers' advisory and audio books. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 42(4), 318-23. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database

Vinjamuri, D. (2012). The wrong war over ebooks: Publishers vs. libraries. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2012/12/11/the-wrong-war-over-ebooks-publishers-vs-libraries/