This column of news, views and snippets from the international literature of books, libraries, and information, was written in April and appeared in the June 2024 issue of LIASA-in-Touch, the quarterly newsletter of the Library and Information Association of South Africa. (Events have overtaken us. The South African general election is behind us, and coalition talks are under way.)

Books are for sharing

As I write this, we’ve just had World Book and Copyright Day, 23 April. It was first celebrated in Spain on 7 October 1926, the birthday of Miguel de Cervantes de Saavedra (1547-1616), Spanish author of what is thought to be the first great Western novel, Don Quixote (from which we derive the word ‘quixotic’, meaning idealistically impractical). In 1995 UNESCO created “World Book and Copyright Day”, choosing 23 April to celebrate it because both William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and Cervantes died on that day, and it was also the birthday of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (1539-1616). De la Vega, born in Peru as the son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman, was an important chronicler of the Inca civilization and the Spanish conquest of Peru.

Image: Current Affairs, https://currentaffairs.adda247.com/world-book-and-copyright-day-2024/

In establishing commemorations or events of this kind, UNESCO usually tries to make them inclusive of different languages and regions. In this case they went a step further and added “and Copyright” to the designation. Copyright as such is good and proper, but its inclusion here irks me. As implemented in the current international intellectual property regime it presents serious barriers to knowledge in the Global South (Aertker 2022; Aufderheide, Ziskina, and Anastácio 2023; Flynn 2023). Not only here, but also in the Northern Hemisphere, where millions of “orphan works” are inaccessible because their copyright holders cannot be traced (Sarid and Ben-Zvi 2023).

Books are for reading

In South Africa we read alarming reports of the decline in basic literacy among children.  It is estimated that 82% of Grade 4 children cannot read for meaning. We are not alone. Worldwide, tests have revealed declining standards of reading and writing (Saavedra et al. 2023). If children are unable to read for meaning, they are disadvantaged throughout their educational career, since being able to read for meaning is a stepping stone for higher-level reading. The Ljubljana Reading Manifesto, launched last year at the Frankfurt International Book Fair, points out that the tremendous increase in digital audio, and visual textual content pose a threat to higher-level reading, which is more important than ever before to navigate the digital world. They argue that:

…higher-level reading is central for critical thinking. Higher-level reading equips readers with the capacity to test different interpretational possibilities, finding patterns and unusual language in the text, detecting and differentiating different meanings, subtexts, contradictions, bias and hidden ideologies, detecting analogies and patterns and drawing inferences or connecting the text with other texts or cultural backgrounds (Schüller-Zwierlein et al. 2022).

Significantly, they point to the importance of the ability to read long-form text, i.e. books. And that is where we come in.

To become readers, kids need access to books

For most children, this means access to libraries. Sadly, in South Africa, the vast majority of children attend schools without school libraries. According to Equal Education, a community-based advocacy organisation which runs a nationwide Campaign for School Libraries, in 2016 only 8% of public schools had functional libraries. To access resources for assignments, many students have to walk long distances, sometimes at risk of gang violence, to visit public libraries (Goldstein 2016). I hope that, before voting on 27 May, LIASA members considered the parties’ track records and policy statements (if any) on school libraries. Recently I discovered some very useful material on reading and school libraries in the website of the National Library of New Zealand, which has extensive services to schools, well worth visiting.

Not infrequently, people ask whether school libraries are still necessary. Can’t everything they need be found on the Internet? This question also arises in the USA. A school librarian in Illinois recently posted a resounding rebuttal (Gregory 2023). Internet does not provide access to the resources needed to foster a love of reading and develop higher-level reading skills, and school librarians are needed to help them sift through masses of misinformation. In any case, in South Africa, many children do not have access to Internet.

Children and young people will read books if they are available. A report from the American Library Association (ALA), released in November 2023, revealed that Generation Z (aged 13 to 25 in 2022) and Millennials (aged 26 to 40), are making more use of libraries than their forebears. They also found that survey respondents read and bought on average twice as many print books as other media. In fact, the younger cohort (Generation Z) read slightly more than the Millennials, and print is their preferred book format (Berens and Noorda 2023).

Libraries are not only for reading

Generation Z and Millennials do not only visit libraries for books. About the 43% of the respondents described themselves as “non-readers”, but just over half of them nevertheless visited libraries, for a multitude of reasons: a “safe, free place to hang out”, information resources and advice, using Wi-Fi, maker-spaces, media production equipment, and programming such as story times, and coding clubs.

Although few librarians will ever admit to having enough funding, our American colleagues seem to have the resources to try out imaginative new services in response to community needs. The American libraries magazine regularly showcases such initiatives. Recently the expression “spirit-free spaces” drew my attention. A reading room for agnostics or atheists?  No. Here “spirit” refers to alcohol. Alcohol-free events have become popular and libraries are contributing to public health by organising programmes to educate users about mixing alcohol-free drinks, called “mocktails” (Balzer 2024). Another new library offering is “sound baths”.  Here a group of participants lies down while a practitioner uses musical instruments such as singing bowls, gongs, or tuning forks to create sound waves. This is thought to calm the participants’ central nervous systems, relieving stress and pain (Newmark 2023).  One undoubted source of stress must be the threat of being evicted from your home because you have fallen behind with the rent. In response, the Cleveland Public Library has opened “Neighborhood Housing Court kiosks” to aid residents who have difficulties in attending hearings of Cleveland’s Housing Court. The kiosks offer private videoconferencing facilities to enable users to attend hearings virtually (Thomas and Peckham 2024).

Not for reading

Finally, here are some books that you can’t read. Kathleen McCook’s always fascinating blog, “Ebla to E-books: The preservation and annihilation of memory”, recently highlighted a current exhibition in the Thomas J. Watson Library of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. It displays items from a collection of book-like objects, such as lockets, miniature chests of drawers, biscuit boxes and a tea caddy, all shaped like books.

Tea caddy in book form
From the Exhibition,
Emulating Books: Book Objects from the Lynn and Bruce Heckman Gift
Gallery Watson Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/910053?pkgids=913

References

Aertker, Mary. 2022. ‘International Copyright’s Exclusion of the Global South’. Michigan Journal of International Law (blog). 27 February 2022. https://www.mjilonline.org/international-copyrights-exclusion-of-the-global-south/.

Aufderheide, Patricia, Juliya Ziskina, and Kimberly Anastácio. 2023. ‘Copyright Problems Impede Cross-Border Teaching’. Education International. 28 September 2023. https://www.ei-ie.org/en/item/28042:copyright-problems-impede-cross-border-teaching.

Balzer, Cassidy R. 2024. ‘Spirit-Free Spaces: Libraries Shake Things up with Mocktail Programs’. American Libraries Magazine. 2 January 2024. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/?p=141477.

Berens, Kathi Inman, and Rachel Noorda. 2023. Gen Z and Millennials: How They Use Public Libraries and Identify through Media Use. Chicago: American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/tools/Gen-Z-and-Millennials-Report%20%281%29.pdf.

Flynn, Sean. 2023. ‘A Right to Research in Africa. Infojustice (blog). 6 February 2023. https://infojustice.org/archives/45003.

Goldstein, Carla. 2016. ‘Libraries and the Bookery’. Equal Education (blog). 19 July 2016. https://equaleducation.org.za/campaigns/libraries-and-the-bookery/.

Gregory, Leah. 2023. ‘My Turn: Yes, School Libraries Still Exist, but to Keep Them Is Going to Require Your Help’. Illinois Library Association. 1 September 2023. https://www.ila.org/publications/ila-reporter/article/188/my-turn-yes-school-libraries-still-exist-but-to-keep-them-is-going-to-require-yo.

Newmark, Rosie. 2023. ‘Tranquil Tones: Libraries Offer Sound Meditation Classes’. American Libraries Magazine. 1 November 2023. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2023/11/01/tranquil-tones/.

Saavedra, Jaime, Sheena Fazili, Ning Wong, Koen Geven, and Marie-Hélène Cloutier. 2023. ‘New Literacy Data Shines a Spotlight on the Learning Crisis’. World Bank Blogs (blog). 26 July 2023. https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/education/new-literacy-data-shines-spotlight-learning-crisis.

Sarid, Eden, and Omri Ben-Zvi. 2023. ‘A Theoretical Analysis of Orphan Works’. SSRN Scholarly Paper. Rochester, NY. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=4484049.

Schüller-Zwierlein, André, Anne Mangen, Miha Kovač, and Adriaan Van Der Weel. 2022. ‘Why Higher-Level Reading Is Important’. First Monday, September. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v27i5.12770.

Thomas, Felton, and Tana Peckham. 2024. ‘A Winning Case: Library Partners with Housing Court to Bring Kiosks to Residents Experiencing Housing Issues’. American Libraries Magazine. 2 January 2024. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/?p=141510.