How digital age has forced Hong Kong’s libraries and librarians to change ways they get us to read
- Various initiatives include increasing access and range of e-books, holding outdoor pop-up libraries around the city and loaning books to pre-schools
- Use of printed books down as surveys show e-books read by only 12 per cent of internet users while just 36 per cent of primary school pupils ‘love reading’
When did you last pick up a printed book? For more than 31 per cent of Hongkongers, the answer is: at least a year ago.
This finding was revealed in a survey carried out by the Hong Kong Publishing Professional Society, which questioned 2,063 of the city’s residents.
Those who said they are regular online readers often look at news and commentaries, or browse their social media feed when they read on the internet. Only 12 per cent of these respondents said they read electronic books (e-books).
Another survey, the 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, found that although Hong Kong primary school pupils ranked third in terms of their reading comprehension of out 50 countries and state regions, only 36 per cent of these children said they liked reading very much – ranking them only 33rd in that category.
Such low numbers are worrying – particularly for libraries, because if fewer people are reading, what does that mean for the future of librarians?
A library’s traditional role has been to provide free information and to promote reading.
