Audiobook reader11/19/2023 ![]() ![]() More readers are being drawn to audiobooks, often because the format allows the listener to do other things while enjoying a good book. While a visual format remained the most-used by readers, the percentage of audiobook listeners rose during the same period - the only format to see an increase in use. However, that question may miss an important point non-visual readers have been reading books aurally since at least 1934 when talking books were included in the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS).** Perhaps more value can be found in considering these two related questions: Does time spent listening to a book replace visual reading time? And is comprehension the same? Does Listening Time Replace Reading Time?Īccording to a 2019 Pew Study, the percentage of adults who read print or eBooks (i.e., visual readers) declined slightly from 2016. The question as to whether audiobooks count as “reading” likely followed soon after their creation. ![]() The National Museum of American History notes that Thomas Edison recited a nursery rhyme in his first recording on the phonograph he invented in 1877 - creating the first ever spoken-word audio (“Spoken Word” is the GRAMMY awards category that now includes audiobooks). The basic concept of an audiobook may have emerged at the same time as the first recording. But does the term “reading” accurately describe listening to a book or story? Not to mention that listening to a book ensures you do not have to guess how to pronounce the main character’s name, and the voice artists who bring a book to life can do so with undeniable talent. Storytelling is a tradition as old as human culture itself, as National Geographic demonstrates.* Few would question the joy and power of a well-recited poem. But the long answer is much more interesting!īy Dianne Coan, Division Director of Technical Operations Tales as Old as Time ![]()
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