Young Arabs held an in-depth discussion about the benefits and disadvantages of digital books versus paper books at the 29th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF).
The discussion, organised by Kalima Reading Club in cooperation with the Federal Youth Authority, was held at the Main Stage of ADIBF on Thursday, 25 April. Two teams of three speakers each tackled the pros and cons of the digital and paper realms in the modern world, before their arguments were judged by a panel of experts.
In his opening statement at the start of the competition, panel judge Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji, Director of the Publishing Department at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), said books were food for the mind and spirit.
Eng. Mohammed Obaid Al Mansouri, who was part of the affirmative team, kicked off the debate by stating that digital books were the future and so should be welcomed and promoted. “Digital change is very important and we have to embrace change instead of clashing with it,” he said.
Based on the statement, he mentioned witnessing a step towards the future in the UAE. “This development journey starts with one person, and the more this person is developed inside, the more the outcome benefits the country,” he noted. “We live in the UAE and we have a strategy in this country which entails a paperless service. Accordingly, the Dubai Government is going to completely transform into a paperless government, which would save more than one billion papers used in government services every year.”
Eng. Al Mansouri said that digital books provide ease of access. “A person just has to click download and, in a minute, they will comfortably have a book,” he said. “People can also gather more books on one device and paper is harmful to the environment, too.”
In response, Suhail Amin Mohammed, who was part of the competitive team, said even with the digital acceleration, paper books hold a special value, especially due to the emotional bond readers build with books. “The smell of paper and ink cannot be replaced by digital books,” he noted. “The human contact with books is a sentimental relationship and that feeling when you are flipping its pages is important for the readers.”
He went on to say that paper books still hold their value, although digital books have emerged on the scene. “Paper books have not changed in the last few years,” he argued. “A total of 65 per cent of Americans read a paper book last year, which is as much as 2012.”
Visiting public libraries and book fairs, where readers can check paper books, opens the door to learning about more books, he explained, and allows an exchange of culture and information with other readers. “It is a social aspect that is available more than what we find with electronic devices,” he concluded. “Paper books are a real investment that increases in value the older they get”.
