Although there might be an impressive catalogue of Caribbean literature, much of it is not available electronically. We discuss some reasons why.
or those of us who love to read, electronic (e-)books have been a godsend. While we may miss the tactile experience of handling a printed book, or the pride of owning stacks of books, or even sharing a well-loved read with others, the convenience, availability and access to e-books, especially in the Caribbean, are compelling benefits for the latter.
However, in a recent article in the Barbados Today newspaper, local and regional publishers were accused of hindering the growth of e-books and e-textbooks in the region. According to the Project Director of the Caribbean Shared Educational Resources Service, Beverly Smith-Hinkson,
…there are approximately 2,000 e-books available on the online portal and accessible in over 25 Caribbean countries, but only five per cent of that content were the work of local and regional authors…
…I go to Caribbean publishers and I say, ‘may I have your books’ and they say,‘but we don’t have them as digital books as yet’. They may have 300 books but [only] eight digitized, [for example]. And they are in fact holding up this revolution within schools to get textbooks…
(Source: Barbados Today)
The limited number of e-books and e-textbooks by Caribbean authors and publishers is especially worrying, as many classic Caribbean books and novels – which should be on every must-read list – have been out of print for years, and may be lost to upcoming generations of readers. A saving grace for Caribbean novels is that a few of them make the reading list in secondary schools across the region; but fewer still are mandatory reading for students preparing to sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examination in English Literature.
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