Cook Partners

Publishers Vs. Librarians

Library Journal, a sister publication to Publishers Weekly, discusses the differences in the goals and cultures of librarians versus publishers:

For two professions so committed to meeting the needs of readers, publishers and librarians have distinct cultures. Put simply, one culture is all about developing and selling books; the other is about sharing them and fostering a culture of reading. But there's another basic difference, too. Publishers work closely with authors and use sales figures to tell them what readers want, interpreting those figures like tea leaves. Librarians work closely with readers, using them as informants to help them select books that will satisfy the diverse tastes of a community.

Though sharing may seem contrary to the imperative to sell books, many publishers have recognized the importance of the library market. Traditionally, children's book houses have been especially aware of libraries as a catalyst for the industry (libraries represent about 40 percent of the children's book market), and libraries are critical for some small publishers. On the adult side, larger publishers often have library marketing departments that actively network with librarians.

Read the rest of the article here.

Latin America: Reading Habit Is Being Lost, Say Publishers

Noti-Prensa interviews Peter Cerra, president of the Spanish Evangelical Products Association (SEPA) about its decision to launch a reading campaign (see this Cook Partners entry). Cerra, who is also the director of sales for Vida, Zondervan's Spanish branch, affirms that the SEPA reading campaign resulted from publisher's concerns:

In recent years we have seen a need to encourage reading.  We already see that neither children nor adults read very much.  Knowing that reading is very important for the growth and progress of the culture, we decided, as Christian editors, to develop a campaign to prompt reading in our market.

... We believe that the habit is getting lost in many countries.  The culture increasingly depends on visual or auditory tools rather than written ones.  Audio books and Bibles sales are growing, and that is good, but they cannot replace the value of reading.

... [SEPA's goal with the campaign is to help people] see the positive aspects to reading ...

The Spanish market for Christian books has been very conscious of costs and has kept the prices a lot more accessible than [is the case for] books in English and other languages. I believe that the price of a book is not the most important aspect of a book; the most important aspect is the value of reading. In the secular market in Latin America, books are a lot more expensive yet sell very well. What we [Christian publishers] must do is exhibit the excellent material that we have [for the church, the public, and for God.]

Latin America: SEPA Launches Reading Campaign

The Spanish Evangelical Products Association (SEPA) announced it will launch a reading campaign at Expolit 2009. According to the press release in Spanish, the campaign arose

... out of a need for a strategic plan to promote reading in the countries where [SEPA member publishers] are working to distribute Christian literature in Spanish. The campaign must be done with interest and passion, since the books we distribute have to do with God's Word, its values, and the guidance it gives us for full and meaningful lives.

..., We want to communicate that literature is valuable in itself, that good books entertain us, give us enjoyment, information, motivation, teaching, and should be an important part of our lives.

SEPA has created promotional materials for distributors and bookstores to use in the continent-wide campaign.

Tanzania: Bookseller's Advice

Gerald Kitabu, a columnist for The Guardian, interviewed Godfrey George Kioko, manager of the bookshop for E & D Readership and Development Agency. His advice?

My advice to all stake holders in the book sector is to put more  effort in improving readership. Book contents should be repackaged into popular forms such as theatre performances, oral story telling, radio and television plays.

This  advice is key in light of

... the issue of poverty, as many parents are not able to purchase books for their children. The cost of books is also prohibitive, making them a luxury by many Tanzanians. Books are not available in rural areas.

So how do you reach the poor in an oral culture? Among many suggestions, Kioko recommends publishers turn books into dramatic presentations to effectively reach mass audiences. Study your list. Are any of the works you most want to reach the poor in your country suitable for such promotion?

Ethiopia: Literacy Efforts "A Drop in the Ocean," Says CNN Hero

Tadias magazine interviewed Yohannes Gebregeorgis, founder of Ethiopia Reads, who was chosen as one of the Top Ten CNN Heroes of 2008. His organization has sought "to bring free public libraries and literacy programs to thousands of children in Ethiopia, including the country’s first Donkey Mobile Library." Gebregeorgis says:

I think the recognition that Ethiopia Reads has received is primarily for the recognition of the importance of literacy to the development of a country’s future; for it’s power to change individuals and society. What we’ve accomplished in the last six years is a drop in the ocean compared to the need. It’s a good beginning that needs to be kept alive and going until we cover all regions of Ethiopia.

Gebregeorgis also granted an interview to the Daily Monitor.

Literacy: How Does Your Nation Compare to Others?

The 2007/2008 United Nations Development Programme Literacy Report was released last month. How does your nation compare to others? Arutz Sheva, an Israeli newspaper, summarized the findings for its region:

The U.N. survey reported that every year, one new book title is published per 12,000 people in the Arab world, as compared with one per 500 people in Britain. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) says Israel publishes more than 4,000 books a year, making Israel the second highest per-capita publisher in the world, after the People's Republic of China.

The United Nations Development Programme Literacy Report for 2007-2008 listed Israel in 56th place for world literacy, with the Palestinian Authority coming in 80th, Jordan 84th, Lebanon 97th, Iran 114th, Syria 120th, and Egypt in 132nd place.

Becoming Screen Literate

The New York Times notes the shift from orality to writing and now, to screen literacy:

We are now in the middle of a second Gutenberg shift — from book fluency to screen fluency, from literacy to visuality.The overthrow of the book would have happened long ago but for the great user asymmetry inherent in all media. It is easier to read a book than to write one; easier to listen to a song than to compose one; easier to attend a play than to produce one. But movies in particular suffer from this user asymmetry ... cheap and universal tools of creation (megapixel phone cameras, Photoshop, iMovie) are quickly reducing the effort needed to create moving images.

"Literacy and a Reading Culture Are Not the Same Thing"

The United Arab Emirates' Abu Dhabi-based newspaper, The National, features an essay by Muhammad Ayish titled "Literacy and a Reading Culture Are Not the Same Thing." Some excerpts:

Reading is both a central ingredient of lifelong learning and a key means of creating a knowledge society. Arab countries need not only to reduce number of people unable to read – 60 million – in the region, but to entrench the written word as an enduring facet of our cultural development...

The essential need to promote reading in the Arab world has received considerable publicity; but the effects on the ground have been limited...

The problem, according to a recent study, is that many education systems in the Arab region take too narrow a view of literacy as a mechanical, text-centered process of translating print into speech. The goals of literacy instruction have become too focused on basic decoding skills, limited to and achieved during the first few grades of primary education.

At Cook International, we agree: literacy is developed over a lifetime. It doesn't stop when you learn how to read as a child. In fact, it is "a life-long Journey,' as author Sandra Glahn writes in "The Multi-Layered Path of Literacy," published in the July/August issue of Cook Partners. 

Ayish continues:

I think that reading skills in knowledge societies require more than decoding simple printed text; they depend on critical cognitive interactions. This feature is highly significant for the young who ... increasingly demonstrate more attachment to web-based, multimedia sources of knowledge. If they can be taught to love books at an early age, then the rest of their education will become that much easier.

What can you do today to encourage those around you to love books and to grow as readers?

Burros Bring Books to Colombian Readers

How do you get books to readers, especially in rural areas? The New York Times highlights the work of one dedicated teacher in La Gloria, Colombia, who uses two burros to haul books to surrounding villages:

“I started out with 70 books, and now I have a collection of more than 4,800,” said Mr. Soriano, 36, a primary school teacher who lives in a small house ... with his wife and three children, with books piled to the ceilings.

“This began as a necessity; then it became an obligation; and after that a custom,” he explained, squinting at the hills undulating into the horizon. “Now,” he said, “it is an institution.”

Women and Girls in Media

The Frankfurt Book Fair blog asks: "Want to Change the World? Teach Girls to Read." Shashi Tharoor, a patron of LITCAM, the Frankfurt Book Fair literacy campaign, stated:

“When I was at the United Nations and asked the one single [way] to change the world, my answer is 'educate girls.'” [Tharoor] cited statistics that offered proof that if you educate a girl as opposed to a boy, the positive effect spreads out across the entire community with which the girl has, or eventually, will have contact.

... According to 2006 statistics from UNESCO, there are more than 774 million illiterate adults and ¾ of those live in only 12 countries, primarily in South and West Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab states.

The Bible promotes the education of women and girls: "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission" (1 Tim. 2:11). In fact, the Bible encourages everyone to learn: "... Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge..." (2 Pet. 1:5). Christians should be (and often are!) at the vanguard of literacy efforts. Beyond the ability to read and making materials accessible, Christians care about content. At the World Association for Christian Communication's Congress 2008 held last week in Cape Town, South Africa, delegates addressed media and gender justice. Ecumenical News International reports:

a recent surge in the number of media companies in India has led to increased gender stereotyping, a national student Christian body that is seeking to increase awareness about the issue among its members has told a meeting of global Christian communicators."

And at the international conference of the Asian Congress for Media and Communication (ACMC) held in August in Davao City, Philippines, topics included human rights and global media reform as well as the objectification of women in media. 

So how does this apply to your publishing house? Review your products. Do you publish resources for girls and women? Do the materials you create encourage everyone to learn? What values do they promote? How can you partner with organizations that are promoting literacy and learning in your country?