by Charlotte Young

E-books may assist some readers who were previously intimidated by thick books and countless pages, but they are steadily widening the reading gap by creating a culture of reading dependent on technology.

This increasing gap will especially impact the black community. While African American writers have been producing great works continuously for the past thirty years, it has been accompanied with the steady increase of the African-American high school drop-out rate. In addition, black students are behind in reading levels across the nation.

Reuters reports on the fears of renowned author Marita Golden, who says, “if reading becomes dependent on technology that must be purchased, then I think we may see the literacy divide persist and even widen.”

In response to this concern, she put together “The Word,” her recent book which shares how reading shaped the lives of several contemporary, prominent African American writers.

The award-winning author and other like-minded individuals who believe in the power of reading still hold out hope that their fear of the digital reading divide will not manifest.

Golden acknowledges that African Americans own more mobile phones and BlackBerries than White Americans. This could provide a potential solution to the problem of e-books.

The question lies in what the mobile phone and BlackBerry owners will choose to download: games or books?