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of reading, and the networks and channels they actively explore.
• Thirdly, the Focus surveys digital reading materials, the new avenues opened up by eBooks, audiobooks, apps and transmedia storytelling – an offering that is increasing in both quantity and quality and must be known and assessed in order for readers to make informed choices. These materials are gradually finding their way into personal libraries and are increasingly present in the collections of public and school libraries,
as well as becoming established as new ways of accessing knowledge and tools for learning in schools.
• The fourth point is a combination of the first three and focuses on strategies for promoting reading, which are revised and updated in a sort of exercise in fine-tuning in order to generate new experiences in the digital environment and to fuel curiosity in a hybrid context in which reading, writing, listening and speaking have an enhanced value and broader scope of action, taking on new meanings as part of the major conver- sation in which the digital era is inviting us to take part.
• The fifth piece that completes the jigsaw
of digital reading and its promotion is cases of good practice in various cultural, educa- tional and social spaces. They are a sign that digital reading is not a thing of the future
but is taking root in the present in schools, libraries and other places. They are expe- riences that involve bringing digital works closer to readers of all ages and promote reading and training in the use of these materials and their related devices.
The challenge we face is to help train competent readers who are familiar with and confident
at handling all kinds of texts, accustomed to reading in different formats, experienced at dealing with different channels and avenues, and prepared to switch from one to another when so required by reading: readers capable of deci- phering all kinds of codes, of understanding the messages conveyed, of judging them and being critical with them.
In short, it is important to ask ourselves what
we are doing to promote reading and to enable all citizens, youngsters and adults alike, to have equal access to them so that the digital gap does not further increase the differences in skills and opportunities between sectors of the population.
This annual report is intended as a contribution to this undertaking that is the responsibility of us all, society as a whole, not only educational and cultural institutions. It sets out to make known to all citizens the most positive aspects of digital reading and to highlight the figure of the reader in the current context of hybrid reading (paper, digital, audio, visual, transmedia, etc.) fostered by the development of the digital age in which it has fallen to us to live.
INTRODUCTION
Readers in the digital age