Leer los clásicos en lector electrónico en biblioteca municipal. Una experiencia que no llega a buen puerto

Abstract

This article reviews an experimental study put in place in a municipal library, where electronic readers containing literary classics were made available to the public. The survey is based on quantitative and qualitative data and aims to socially situate reading practices on electronic readers, as well as apprehend the ambivalent cultural behaviour on the part of readers. The results allow us to grasp the significance of their positioning and social trajectories, as well as bring to light the generational and professional stakes at play in acquiring the necessary digital skills when borrowing an e-reader. While readers’ attraction towards the device stems from neophilia and is justified by their practical interest in the device—echoing the librarians’ comments who are themselves oriented towards novelty—the study illustrates that these readers nonetheless insist on assigning a higher symbolic value to paper books than to their digital equivalent. These representations are all the more reinforced by the absence of digital skills in these readers, which, as a result, leads to a short-lived reading experiment.