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Cited by 15Library Science and AdministrationLibrary Collection Development and Digital ResourcesLiteracy and Educational Practices

The Right to Listen: A Not So Simple Matter of Audiobooks

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Dali, Keren, Brochu, Leah K.·2020·Library Resources & Technical Services
DOI 10.5860/lrts.64n3.106-119
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Abstract

This article, written on the intersection of public and technical services, proposes a conceptual and theoretical foundation of advocacy for integrating audiobooks into library collections and programs. Suggestions are made primarily with librarians in public libraries in mind, although it is hoped that academic and special librarians will also benefit from them; these suggestions build on the analysis of the rising popularity of audiobooks as an accessible medium and a medium of choice for leisure readers with and without disabilities. We look at the equal status for audiobooks and the wider acceptance of audiobooks through the combined lens of diversity and privilege. In our study, we survey extant literature (research-based, media, and social media publications); examine and synthesize it in a critical and innovative manner (e.g., by combining the social analysis of proliferating and diversified audiobooks with the notions of diversity and privilege); propose new ways of looking at the issues of advocacy and practice; and offer specific ideas for librarians to implement them. We argue that some anxieties and concerns about audiobooks and audio-reading, among others, can derive from different types of privileges held by professionals and social groups, which becomes particularly important when they are endowed with decision-making power; these privileges include the privilege of body ability; the privilege of lifestyle; the Western privilege; the privilege of literacy; privileging format over story; and the privilege of citizenship and language.

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Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Liz Brewster, Barbara Sen, and Andrew Cox, "Mind the Gap: User and Provider Perspectives in Bibliotherapy," Library Trends 61, no. 3 (2013): 569-86;
  2. Keren Dali and Nadia Caidi, "Diversity by Design," The Library Quarterly 87, no. 2 (2017): 88-98.
  3. Alexandra Alter, "ARENA-Can You Hear Me Now?-The New Explosion in Audio Books: With Lavish Original Pro- ductions and Enticing New 'Syncing' Technology, Audio Books have Emerged as a Rare Bright Spot in the Publish- ing Business; Every Smartphone is a Player," Wall Street Journal, August 1, 2013, D1.
  4. Bill Crowley, "Redis- covering the History of Readers Advisory Service," Public Libraries 44, no. 1 (2005): 37-41;
  5. David Rose and Bridget Dalton, "Plato Revisited: Learn- ing Through Listening in the Digital World" (unpublished white paper, Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, January 9, 2007), https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/deff/4439a3f42af 47eccbee87edfcd3c5d5dce68.pdf, cited in Hyder, Reading Groups, 39.
  6. Pamela Varley, "As Good as Reading? Kids and the Audio- book Revolution," The Horn Book Magazine 78, no. 3 (2002): 251, cited in Hyder, Reading Groups, 39.
  7. Mohsin Hamid, "We Are All Migrants," National Geo- graphic 236, no. 2 (2019): 17-20.

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Authors
Dali, K., & Brochu, L. K.
Affiliations
University of Denver (US)
ORCID
Venue
Library Resources & Technical Services
Publisher
American Library Association
Published
2020-07-31
Volume
64
Issue
3
Pages
106-119
ISSN
  • 0024-2527 (ISSN-L)
  • 2159-9610
DOI
10.5860/lrts.64n3.106-119
OpenAlex
W3046687368
Cited by
15
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3
FWCI
10.37
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Library Resources and Technical Services (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Administration
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Library Collection Development and Digital Resources
  • Social Sciences › Education › Literacy and Educational Practices
Keywords
audiobooks, public libraries, collection development, library advocacy, disability, accessibility, audio reading, reading for pleasure

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