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SAN JUAN ISLAND LIBRARY |
Related pagesSan Juan Island Library Web site Previous columnsCreating Digital Access in a Digital World |
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How I read now
I realised something recently. Something I never thought could possibly happen: I now read more on my computer than I do from paper books. Believe me, no one is more surprised by this fact than I was. I've had a deep and abiding love of books for as long as I can remember. I've re-read my favourite books so often that they've literally fallen apart. I have boxes still filled with books that I've never fully unpacked since moving here three years ago - I don't have room for them all to be out, but I can't bring myself to get rid of them either so I go through the boxes every once in a while and pull out a couple I haven't read in a bit and switch them with some I've had out for a while. Yes, I am totally addicted to books. The smell of books, the feel of the bindings, the pages full of words... I still get a giddy thrill when I enter a bookstore or new library. So why has digital reading taken over for me lately? On the plus side, it's easier to knit or stitch while reading on the computer. Just a tap to a key advances the page and I don't have to hold the computer the whole time like I do a book. There's also a certain extra variety not available through conventional book publishers. A lot of the stories I'm reading lately are written by friends and posted online or emailed to me - they've never gone through the filter of the publisher's need to make money. Convenience is big too. My little iBook can download and hold a gazillion books (well, not literally but it sure seems like it!) and not take up any more space in a travel bag. The other side of this equation though is the lack of the tactile experience of the book when I read online - and that's no small thing. The feel of a new book, the creaking of the new binding and spine are all part of the experience of reading for me. Then there's what staring at a computer screen too much does to your eyes (watch for my new glasses coming soon! Now with a prescription specifically for viewing the "middle-distance" - where the computer sits in front of me). So how do you read? The library has resources to accommodate many different kinds of reading. There are the books of course, as well as audio books, computers for online reading, interactive CD-ROMs, magazines, databases and programs where books are read aloud. So many to choose from - so what's your choice this summer?
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