Colloquium held on the “Present and Future of Digital Books in the Dominican Republic”

Colloquium held on the “Present and Future of Digital Books in the Dominican Republic”
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 03/20/2014

The Directorate for Books and Reading, of the Ministry of Culture, sponsored the symposium “Present and future of the digital books in the Dominican Republic”, as part of the Pre-opening activities of the International Book Fair of Santo Domingo 2014, held at the Library of Culture.

Three renowned Dominican writers participated in the event and spoke of the potential of the new reading format. They are: Aquiles Julián, Luis Reinaldo Pérez, and Isael Pérez. The event was headed by Valentín Amaro, Director of Books and Reading.

Aquiles Julián was the first to formulate his ideas. He initiated the discussion by stating that “we are currently experiencing the largest and most important revolution known: the digital book revolution”.
According to the speaker, each e-book reader responds to a particular technological development and the book is no more than information and content. He did not give much importance to the fact that people talk about the smell of the physical book, but what is important is its presentation.

Among the benefits attributed to the digital book, he summarized that this is the one thing that no one can steal, but it is given as a friendly exchange, although it is also possible to charge for it.

Prior to sharing these ideas, he recounted the history of the written word before the invention of printing, and the role of reading in benefitting the Middle Ages nobility.

In turn, Isael Pérez, writer and owner of Sanctuary publishing house, even though he understands that the physical book still prevails over the digital book, he acknowledges that the digital format and its dissemination have grown in recent years.

His experience participating in national and international fairs is that people are still buying printed books, but also read in other formats.
He made it very clear that the printed book is not in crisis and cited that he has received in recent days orders for up to 500 books to be distributed in schools.

Finally, Luis Reinaldo Pérez made his presentation, stating that he believes that the physical book is not going away, that the same thing was thought about the digital newspapers when they came out, and people read them in both formats.

He spoke of the advantages offered by the e-books because up to fifteen hundred books can be stored in a single format, and, in the case of a physical library, it would require a large space.

He said that youth is benefiting from being able to download their favorite books at no cost, and that previously that was impossible to do.

He said that the interest in new reading formats, mainly of young people, will continue to grow in the future.

At the end of the presentations, the participants had the opportunity to ask questions, which were answered on the spot.

The Ministry of Culture is the official instance responsible for organizing, directing, and facilitating the implementation of events and activities aimed at fostering, promoting, and disseminating culture in the Dominican Republic; it is led by singer-songwriter and Minister José Antonio Rodríguez. The XVII International Book Fair will take place from April 24th to May 5th with Panama as the country guest of honor, and will be dedicated to Postumismo writer Domingo Moreno Jimenes.