Week Eleven Prompt

For this week I have been tasked to explore ebooks and audiobooks within the landscape of book culture. Like many of the other prompts, there is much to unpack with these two items, so I would like approach these forms of literature from the angle of accessibility.

EBOOKS

Thanks to advances in technology, ebooks have become increasingly popular within global library ecosystems. This could be most prominently witnessed during the height of the pandemic, when traditional libraries temporarily closed their doors and virtual ones expanded their reach. To alternately word the previous sentence: Virtual libraries (or virtual representations of libraries) still provided library patrons with access when in-person libraries were unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances. 

Before the pandemic, patrons who experienced mental and physical health issues also utilized ebooks when they were unable to physically visit a branch. As someone who has regularly used library services throughout my adult life, I am incredibly thankful for the times when I have been able to rent and request ebooks. 

Additionally, busyness can also prevent one from visiting a branch. As someone who is currently both in graduate school and employed, I can certain attest to the fact that, if I did not work at a library branch, I certainly would not have time to visit a library - or at least frequently!

AUDIOBOOKS

When I first began to work in the public library system, I was surprised to see how many people use audiobooks. As someone who prefers to learn things via a visual manner, audiobooks are not something that I traditionally use to absorb literature. 

With that being said, I have seen and helped patrons who are blind. As the numbers of people who can read braille regularly decrease (due to the time-consuming process of teaching braille coupled with advances in technology), the importance of audiobooks has dramatically increased. As such, I believe it is important to create audiobooks with the highest possible standards, including professional narration and music, since those things create a more lively final product.