Imagine getting
free access to an electronic library when travelling on the tube. Well that is
what travelers can now enjoy on Line 4 of the Beijing metro.
The metro lines carriages
feature barcodes which people can scan with their tablets or smartphones and
this then enables them to select from a selection of books.
Howeve,r there are some obvious challenges today. Firstly there is only a choice of ten books and these historical Chinese texts. This may be a novelty today and prove too restrictive
for many tomorrow. Next, the books are planned to change every couple of months, which
obviously gives anyone who starts close to the end of the cycle a reading challenge.
Finally, the length of the texts is not clear, but if they were say the length of
UK and US titles, it may prove uninviting to those who don’t commute every day, or whose journey is relatively short. Again it is unclear whether the books are
downloaded or read online, so the question of offline, or off rail, reading is
also unclear.
However, if we
ignore the questions raised and focus on the opportunity we can see the potential
for others to adapt the proposition for other commuter communities in other cities.
Imagine the highly successful London
underground poems all being available to introduce many to poetry and give that
daily food for thought. Imagine sample chapters being promoted by publishers to
stimulate interest in their latest titles and not just the bestsellers. Imagine
a new novel being introduced Dickens style by serialisation. Imagine a library linked to the city's public library, or the national library and allowing lending on the move to those that are entitled to the service.
The question of whether it is a public or private or joint service is an intresting one but should not be a barrier to encouraging reading.
The opportunities are
not restricted by technology, as it exists today, but are only restricted by the vision
and commitment to enabling travelers to enjoy reading.
