The demise of Booktopia

Yesterday (Wednesday), it was announced that Booktopia would enter voluntary administration. The company cited unprofitability in recent years and an inability to obtain funding to keep the business afloat.

The demise of Booktopia will have its consequences if it does go into liquidation (stops trading). School libraries such as mine do order through Booktopia because of the competitive prices relative to other booksellers, either bricks or mortar or online. This means that the cost of purchasing books will increase. It will limit the ability of school libraries to stretch their funds further, given the budgetary pressures that school libraries are accustomed to. 

While Booktopia is still trading, I would recommend that school libraries not purchase from Booktopia until its future is known because if an order is placed, there is no guarantee it will be fulfilled, especially if it's a pre-order or there is a long time frame for delivery. If Booktopia enters liquidation, you may not receive your items and/or be entitled to a refund. 

Even before entering voluntary administration, there were already concerns about the fulfilment of orders, with some yet to receive orders.

Stop Reading the News by Rolf Dobelli

I confess to being a news nut. I recall watching the news each night as a six year old, even if I didn't completely understand what the content was about. It may have been years before I realised that I was actually a witness to history if I see or read an item years later. I enjoyed reading newspapers as a seven year old, even if it was just the weather page but just seeing pages loaded with lots of words and pictures. It made me feel grown up. 

Recently, I read Stop Reading the News by Rolf Dobelli and his main argument is that watching, reading, or listening to the news is harmful to a person and impacts our personal wellbeing. He goes as far as arguing that people are less likely to concentrate.

In addition, he argued that the content we view is pointless and that if its important, we will hear about it. The news is irrelevant.

He also suggested that in building our knowledge and understanding in the world, that we read on topics that interest us and read deeply into it. We should specialise our knowledge on a small range of fields.

I can see his point, particularly when it comes to reading deeply into a topic and as an educator, I need to encourage students to read widely and deeply on a topic.

But I have concerns about having to not watch, read or listen to the news, particularly in an educational context because watching the nightly news, reading a daily newspaper or reading a magazine helps us to make connections between the theory and application of knowledge. 

My best subject in the HSC in 2003 was Legal Studies. By watching the news and reading the newspaper each day, I was exposed to how the law was being applied. I kept folders of newspaper clippings from court cases or legislation being debated in our State and Federal Parliaments. I would be encouraging students in 2022 to do the same.

I think we as a species are wired to be curious about the world and its happenings but also to be able to share with others what is going on the world.

But if it was a takeaway note for me, maybe we need to slow our approach to how we view the news. For example, I should try and focus on longer articles instead of shorter articles. Fortuantely, I still subscribe to printed newspapers. The digital replica is the lazy way out unless on a ery crowded train. I notice in a printed sense, I abosrb the news more slowly but at the same time immerse myself with the content. 

We should not fear if we miss the nightly news on television or not have enough time to read it the next day.