More Than Accessibility: Audiobooks Are Awesome, Actually
- Pola
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
This June, we’re celebrating Audiobook Appreciation Month! From oral tradition, to printed books and plays, to graphic novels, stories are being told in all ways. If you thought your favorite book could only be “read” one way, think again. Audiobooks have been around for generations and have become more than just an accessibility tool—it’s its own piece of literary and sonic art.
Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels
Audiobooks originated in the UK from a test by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RINB) to create “talking books.” The first audiobook was produced in 1934 in LP (long play) form thanks to a project called “Books for the Adult Blind.” This audiobook had excerpts from the Bible, as well as passages from O. Henry and Hellen Keller. Sighted people weren’t allowed access to these LPs due to publisher and licensing agreements.
Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Joseph Conrad’s Typhoon became the first books to be recorded in audio form. As with the first prototype, they were recorded on LP records with 25 minutes on each side. Each book took up around 10 discs total.
In 1969, the National Library Service for the Blind in the US made the leap from LPs to audiocassette tapes, making audiobooks much more lightweight. Cassette tapes became the default format for audiobooks up until the invention of compact discs (CDs) in the ’80s. By the ’90s, audiobooks gained more popularity, making it the norm for most bestselling books to be recorded as well.
However, the internet turned the audiobook into a game changer. Books were recorded completely in higher quality and made available to download in MP3 format.
In 2015, sales in audiobooks rose to 34%, with adult fiction accounting to 76.3% in total sales. With its availability in many formats, audiobooks were able to bridge generation gaps. Today, popular applications like Audible, Libby, Spotify, and Everand make it all the easier for anyone to stream their favorite novels anytime, anywhere.
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