As many students continue virtual classes amid the pandemic, Katie Berger, manager of Haven Books, said making ebooks available to students was essential.
The local academic bookstore, run by the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA), made ebooks available for purchase on its website beginning in the winter 2022 term.
While students are making use of the new online availability of their textbooks, those who shop in-store are often looking for print books only, Berger said.
“It’s interesting having those conversations with students and seeing how some are really searching for those physical books in order to balance some of the online life they’re living,” Berger said. “They’re sick of being online all the time. Having a physical book is a break.”
After two years of digital and remote life, many students seem to be turning towards physical books, not only for academics but also for leisurely reading. It is understandable that students are seeking balance in a largely digital environment, Berger said. However, some scholars say there is more to this desire for print books than offsetting digital consumption.
The potential shallowness of digital
Excessive screen time has the potential to negatively affect an individual’s health, both mental and physical. In fact, the American Optometric Association officially recognizes Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) as a result of too much time spent looking at screens. Symptoms of CVS could include eyestrain, headaches and blurred vision as a result of digital reading conditions involving lighting and screen glare.
But what students are experiencing now is more complicated than eyestrain, and can’t be remedied by blue-light glasses.
Digital reading also affects how people learn and retain information, according to How We Read Now, a book published in March 2021 by Naomi Baron.
Baron, who received her PhD in linguistics at Stanford University and is now a professor emerita of linguistics at American University, explained that people read differently online versus in print.
“Students will tell you, ‘I concentrate best when I’m reading in print. I learn best when I’m reading in print,’” Baron said.
According to Baron, this is due to many factors. The first is people’s tendency to adopt an “entertainment mindset” when reading on a screen. This is also known as the “shallowing hypothesis,” where the brain pairs a certain medium with what it considers an appropriate way to read on that medium.
Since people’s brains are accustomed to approaching digital reading with a low-effort, social media-oriented mindset, the hypothesis suggests they are less likely to concentrate deeply on reading digitally. So, reading digitally can encourage skimming, resulting in lower comprehension and poorer information retention.
The experience of reading on a digital platform is not entirely a result of the shallowing hypothesis. Physical and environmental factors also influence reading.
“We don’t just read with our eyes and we don’t just read with our brains. We also read with our bodies,” Baron said.
Since reading print incorporates a more physical experience, such as posture and spatial awareness of pages, it influences how people process information. According to Baron, the brain also associates place and physical position with the kind of reading being done. Other experts, Baron said, refer to this as “embodied reading,” another layer influencing learning through digital and print media.
Fatigue from digital reading
In addition to digital reading’s implications on learning and retention, Baron said her research shows many readers are simply drowning in digital texts.
“We’re finding from secondary school data that after people have done a lot of digital reading, they’re no longer finding digital reading to be as entertaining as they did previously,” Baron said. “They’ve been doing so much reading digitally that they’ve had enough.”
This preference for print reading is also reflected in the trade book industry, which centres around books published for general audience consumption.
Baron, who has been closely observing ebook sales in the United States, has noticed some interesting trends. In 2018 and 2019, ebook sales were declining radically at about four per cent each year. Then, in light of the pandemic’s restriction of in-person bookstore shopping, ebook sales began to rise in 2020 for the first time since the mid 2010s. However, around spring 2021, ebook sales began declining once again, with sales of physical books on the rise.
Canadian sales have followed a similar trajectory. According to BookNet Canada data, print book sales in the first half of 2021 were 11.2 per cent higher than in the same period in 2020.
Jerry Cranford, publisher and co-founder of Flanker Press, a book publisher in Paradise, Nfld., has also noticed this piqued interest in physical books.
“Over the past year especially, we have noticed more people buying print books,” Cranford said. “Maybe theoretically, it shouldn’t have been with the pandemic, but we’ve noticed a groundswell.”
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Flanker Press shifted gears. Among the many changes brought on by the shift to online, the publisher introduced virtual book launches, held virtual book readings and hosted ebook giveaways. The book giveaways were themed, and encouraged virtual engagement with readers, including a “Twelve Books of Christmas” segment, where Flanker Press showcased a different book each day.
The Woman in the Attic by Emily Hepditch was one of Flanker Press’s 2020 online releases. Though it was made available in both print and ebook formats, it was launched virtually. It is now in its sixth printing and received the mystery prize for the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer. For Cranford, the success of Hepditch’s novel “speaks to the ongoing strength of the print book.”
With the prevalence of social media, people are reading digitally all day, every day, Cranford said. However, Cranford believes sitting down with a print book is an entertainment experience that is entirely unique, especially amid increased digital media consumption.
“People are going into their stores, they’re wearing their masks, they’re social distancing, but they’ve got to have those books. I think it all has to do with that escape,” he added.
The student dilemma
Despite the recent resurgence of print books, ebooks are not going anywhere. At the end of the day, the convenience and increased accessibility of ebooks can’t be ignored. But considering the potentially negative implications of too much digital reading, some students may be searching for ways to navigate these waters.
Vienna Assaad, a first-year commerce student at Carleton University, has experienced this personally.
“I find I get distracted a lot more when I’m reading on a device,” Assaad said.
After recognizing that reading in print was often more enjoyable for her than digital, Assaad reflected on her digital reading habits. She noticed that when reading a physical book, she did not usually engage with her phone. Assaad added that her focus and information retention improved when reading print as a result.
“For digital reading to improve, I’ve noticed I’ve had to get off any type of social media or device I’ve been on like an hour before I decide to work,” Assaad said.
When advising students amid continuing digital education, Baron suggests that once people learn they are statistically less likely to focus when reading digitally, they should take a critical look at their personal reading habits.
As Baron explains, if research shows that digital reading encourages distraction or skimming, these side effects can be counteracted by making mindful reading choices, such as those made by Assaad after reflecting on her personal reading practices.
“It’s absolutely possible to do as well digitally as in print. Do most people do that? No,” Baron said.
But according to Baron, it is undoubtedly possible to close the gap between print and digital.
“You can really make it happen. You just have to know what you need to do and discipline yourself to make it happen.”
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
