Reading, even when silent and individual, is a social phenomenon and has often been studied as such. Complementary to this view, research has begun to explore how reading is embodied beyond simply being 'wired' in the brain. This article brings the social and embodied perspectives together in a very literal sense. Reporting a qualitative study of reading practices across student focus groups from six European countries, it identifies an underexplored factor in reading behaviour and experience. This factor is the sheer physical presence, and concurrent activity, of other people in the environment where one engages in individual silent reading. The primary goal of the study was to explore the role and possible associations of a number of variables (text type, purpose, device) in selecting generic (e.g. indoors vs outdoors) as well as specific (e.g. home vs library) reading environments. Across all six samples included in the study, participants spontaneously attested to varied, and partly surprising, forms of sensitivity to company and social space in their daily efforts to align body with mind for reading. The article reports these emergent trends and discusses their potential implications for research and practice.

Ana Vogrinčič ČepičKnjižnica kot (tretji) prostor: družbeni učinki prostorskih praks Problematizacija koncepta ob primerjavi izposojevalnih knjižnic 18. stoletja in sodobnih javnih knjižnic R ABE PROSTOR A V K NJIŽNIH IZPOSOJEVALNICAH 18. STOLETJA Upodobitev Georgiane Jane Keate iz leta 1789 (Slika 1), ki prikazuje knjižno izposojevalnico Johna Halla v angleškem letovišču Margate, nepoučenim praviloma vzbuja začudenje. Prostor prej spominja na večnamensko dvorano za družabna srečanja in v njem komajda zaznamo knjige. Ampak v resnici Hallova ni bila nobena izjema med takratnimi izposojevalnicami. T. i. circulating libraries so praviloma ponujale pester repertoar storitev in so bile le redko zgolj in samo izposojevalnice. Angleško-slovenski slovar bibliotekarske terminologije prevede circulating libraries kot izposojevalne knjižnice, torej tiste, katerih zbirka je -za razliko od čitalniških -krožila med strankami. Dodati velja, da so bile to plačljive lastniške knjižnice, ki so delovale profitno: za izposojo je bilo treba plačati in s tem je nekdo služil. To so bile osrednje literarne institucije v Angliji 18. in 19. stoletja. Poznali so jih tudi drugod (dokumentirano vsaj v Evropi, Ameriki in v kolonijah), vendar Anglija 18. stoletja predstavlja tisti družbeno-zgodovinski kontekst, kjer lahko najprej govorimo o popularizaciji in komercializaciji bralne kulture, predvsem v navezavi na razcvet romana. 1Izposojevalne knjižnice so pri tem odigrale ključno vlogo, saj so delovale kot osrednji distribucijski kanal, ki je ljudem, ki si sicer ne bi mogli privoščiti knjig, omogočil dostop do čtiva za precej nižjo ceno. V tem smislu so bile še najbližje javnim knjižnicam, ki so se vzpostavile v drugi polovici 19. stoletja.2 Po mnenju večine raziskovalcev 3 so se circulating libraries pojavile kot stranska veja založniškega oz. knjigarniškega 4 posla že v 17. stoletju, potem pa sčasoma razvile kompleksen profesionalni aparat z izdelanim sistemom pravil, s tipologijo članarin, s katalogi itd. Prve samostojne in uradno evidentirane izposojevalne knjižnice viri umeščajo v dvajseta leta 18. stoletja, razcvetele pa so se zlasti z vzponom romana v štiridesetih letih 18. stoletja, z valom romanesknih uspešnic na čelu z Richardsonovima Pamelo in Clarisso.5 V Angliji naj bi konec 18. stoletja poslovalo kar okoli tisoč takih knjižnic; predvsem v večjih krajih in letoviščih, pri čemer so imele nekatere na voljo do 20.000 knjig, manjše pa samo okoli 200. 6 Izposojevalnice so slovele predvsem po ponudbi (lahkotne in zabavne) fikcije, 7 zato so zelo hitro postale tarča moralno-paničnih komentarjev, ki so izražali skrb zaradi domnevno škodljivih učinkov takšnega branja.

The aim of this interview study is to explore how skilled readers use their homes as their reading space, while paying attention to what 'home' refers to, what they read there, the 'where' and 'when' aspects of reading at home, and home reading rituals. We conducted semistructured in-depth interviews with ten university students (four from Croatia and six from Slovenia).Based on what the students said and how they said it, we tried to show that reading is a complex phenomenon, a physical experience, embodied and situated, and, as such, influenced by the immediate environment. Our basic finding is that the comfort of home is often reflected in the comfort of reading. Our participants emphasize the need to feel relaxed and to create private reading atmosphere. Home is a place where they can adjust the space according to their requirements, instead of them adjusting to the environment in which they read. However, when asked about their ideal reading situations, they often talked about other, mostly outdoor, settings that cannot always be adjusted to one's comfort. The paper also discusses different methodological approaches that could grasp domestic reading practices more in depth and emphasize the emotional side of the experience.

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Pričujoči članek skuša na podlagi poglobljenih individualnih pogovorov z bralci o njihovih bralnih navadah izluščiti, kako realni prostor branja sooblikuje bralno izkušnjo. Osredotoča se na branje leposlovja za prosti čas in na branje domá, ki so ga sogovorniki postavili v središče, obravnava branje na prostem in v javnosti, dotika pa se tudi vprašanja, kako prostor branja spreminja digitalizacija. Pri tem vseskozi izhaja iz branja kot izrazito telesne in materialne prakse.