Page 175 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

a QR code provided by the bibliotaxi depending on the works available.
And from eBooks in taxis we will now go on to listening to audiobooks in private vehicles
We will switch from public to private transport with the audiobook app Audiobooks.com,202 which recently teamed up with Android Auto to take advantage of the expectations aroused by in-car Internet and the possibility of using apps during journeys. More than 60 million private vehicles are expected to enjoy this possibility within a few years’ time, including listening to audiobooks while driving.
The project has been joined by a large number
of well-known car manufacturers, such as Acura, Maserati, Volkswagen, Audi, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Honda, Hyundai, Jeep, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru and Volvo, among others. The application Audiobooks.com is available on the two main platforms, for both iOS and Android.
We will end this survey of good practice with in-flight digital reading, such as the collection of digital magazines Lufthansa offers in its
bid to promote digital reading. The airline has announced that it is switching from paper to screens in the reading material it offers passen- gers, bringing them a selection of more than 250 digital works including a broad variety of magazines on various subjects and newspapers. There are also magazines for children and the possibility of reading in 18 different languages. An equally interesting option is that passengers can access these digital materials before travel- ling, up to three days before they are due to fly.
Still on the subject of air travel, only on the ground, travellers who frequent certain airports can also enjoy digital reading. An example is Philadelphia International Airport Virtual Library, a service that offers a free high-speed Wi-Fi connection and an Internet platform providing
access to a collection of eBooks available
to travellers. The experience is the result of collaboration between local library services and the airport authorities. The library also holds exhibitions on books and local writers and other subjects of interest to airport users.
And after a long-haul flight we will now land in the last destination on our journey, the eLibrary at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. This digital lending library service was started up more than five years ago at the airport by offering passengers electronic books to make their stay on the island more enjoyable. As well as the digital holdings there are also print books in Chinese and English. The library has 30 or
so mobile devices, half of them iPads and the other half specific devices for reading electronic ink. The devices are lent to the passengers, as they cannot download electronic books onto their own devices. The library is managed by the duty-free shops, which worked jointly with the Taiwanese government in starting up this service.
Reading needs to permeate all realms in order to build a society of readers, and this requires the effort of everyone, not only in the fields of education and culture. This idea is the basis of the Plan for fostering reading203 devised by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport for 2017–20. The chief aim of this plan, the motto of which is “Reading gives you extra lives”, is
to boost the demand for reading through the promotion, spread and strengthening of reading as a habit.
The plan is designed to cater to the new situa- tions of reading and books and the changes they have undergone in recent years as a result of the transformations in our social, cultural, educa- tional and technological environment. It also calls on all authorities and the greatest possible number of private organisations belonging to the book and other sectors to join forces to bring reading to all citizens equally.
AC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 2018
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Readers in the digital age