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As audiobooks rise in popularity, many people have begun treating them as an equivalent to reading. Audiences, particularly millennials and Gen Z, prefer listening to audiobooks rather than reading. While audiobooks have become very accessible and convenient, this growing trend raises an important question: Should listening to a book be considered reading?
Listening to an audiobook is fundamentally different from reading a book. In fact, it’s in the phrase itself — listening. A story told around a bonfire isn’t called reading, and neither is watching a movie. In both cases, the audience absorbs the story passively rather than engaging directly with the written text. Simply absorbing the story shouldn’t be called reading, regardless of whether it uses the same wording as the original book. If audiobooks were universally considered reading, then by the same logic, listening to someone recite song lyrics aloud could be labeled as “reading music,” an idea most people would find unreasonable.
In addition, audiobooks involve a third party: the narrator who delivers the book to the listener. This makes listening to an audiobook a different cognitive experience from reading words off a page. When reading text, readers control the pace, emphasis and interpretation of the words themselves. When listening to an audiobook, the narrator determines how the story is delivered through the tone and pacing. As a result, this shifts much of the work from the listener to the speaker.
Reading forces the brain to work more actively than listening does. While listening and reading can lead to similar comprehension, reading is often better because readers can easily stop and reread difficult sections, while listeners may drift off and miss the key points.
Furthermore, audiobooks neglect the core reading skills in favor of listening comprehension and background knowledge. Readers need not decode the sentences to analyze a story, and students develop strong listening skills while failing to develop reading skills.
Some argue that audiobooks increase accessibility and help people read more, especially for those with learning difficulties or busy schedules. More broadly, audiobooks are useful tools that can help spark interest in stories and make literature more inclusive. However, usefulness does not mean equivalence. Many educators recommend audiobooks as supplements to reading, not replacements. Supporting accessibility should not require redefining reading as an action.
Audiobooks deserve recognition, but a better approach is to categorize them as “literary engagement” rather than “reading.” Schools and reading programs should continue to encourage audiobooks while still prioritizing text-based reading for literacy development. Both activities have value, but they are not the same; treating them as such doesn’t do justice to what reading truly is.
