[Web4lib] Audiobooks, are they helping kids learn to read?

[Harvey Melinda]

Michelle Mumau <Mumaum at woodhaven.k12.mi.us> wrote:    I was just wondering what your thoughts are on audio books and
education? 
   
  Hmm, it is certainly worth thinking about.  I know that people in general like gadgets and the newest items.  
   
  I'm hoping that the audio books will actually encourage someone to pick up a book and read.  I know that I have listened to books I wouldn't have sat down to read.  
   
  I try to keep this in mind when we select audio books.  At our community college, we have a many students who are trying their wings at college after having received an education that was geared more for trades than academics.  As a result, our collection tends to be more classics or items supporting the assignments of the instructors, and they are in an unabridged format.  Our justification (and what doesn't have to be justified these days) is that we are trying to support different learning styles.
   
  So far, it is the faculty who are enjoying the audiobooks the most--revisiting old friends or whiling away commute times between campuses.
   
  Melinda Harvey


Reference Department,
Meadows Library, 
Gadsden State Community College
256-549-8411

 "In the nonstop tsunami of global information, librarians provide us with floaties and teach us how to swim."  Linton Weeks
 		
---------------------------------
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.