World Listening Day

APA-Listening_infographic-2020While every day is a good day to listen here are some extra ideas for July 18, which is World Listening Day.

Let’s start by exploring audiobook listening’s role in book enjoyment and literacy.  You can visit the Sound Learning APA initiative’s site for a wealth of research information about the effects of listening on the brain and in literacy development. Note the study undertaken by the BookTrust that discovered how audiobooks have become even more important to kids during the current pandemic’s disruptions of social activities as well as school.  Sound Learning also provides annotated lists arranged by age for recommended audiobook listening.

NetGalley, where we share forthcoming books from many of our publisher clients, has just launched an audiobook galley component. Find out how you can participate, and take note of this excellent guide to writing good audiobook reviews.

If you’re already an audiobook fan, you probably know about AudioFile Magazine’s database of over 45,000 reviews. These are reviews of the performances of fiction, nonfiction, audio dramas, books for kids, and more.  In addition to visiting their website to search for reviews, you can subscribe to their weekday podcast featuring a new review daily, and check their Pinterest account for themed collections of reviews, such as the board featuring audiobooks with themes relevant to #BlackLivesMatter.

This year’s World Listening Day hosts are focusing on “The Collective Field,” and you are encouraged to take a walk and listening whale cartoonlisten for the natural soundscape you find.  Use your audiobook literacy skills to help you notice and identify the rich sounds of your local environment and how they change from hour to hour through the day, and as you move from place to place, even if it’s just from one point to another in a walk around your block or up and down the staircase of your building.

Listening—it’s a capacity we have that we can continue to strengthen in order to better appreciate our world.

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