The results are in: audiobooks are beneficial tools that just about everyone should use. They are immersive, educational, and help readers of all ages improve their reading skills. Although it might seem like a contradiction that an audiobook can help a person read as well as if they were reading a print book themselves, the data actually suggest that it can.

In fact, listening to audiobooks increases reading accuracy by over 51%, enhances reading skills, teaches pronunciation, and helps people improve comprehension by over 75%. That’s why it’s important for people to add listening to audiobooks to their daily routine.

A good time to begin listening to them is during Audiobook Month, which occurs in June. During this month, we can reap the enormous benefits of listening to audiobooks as they transport us to different worlds.

The History of Audiobook Month

Audiobooks have been around for over 90 years. They were first used by the public in 1932 when the American Foundation for the Blind began creating recordings of books on vinyl records. Although these recordings were a breakthrough for people who couldn’t read printed books, each side only contained about 15 minutes of speech.

Even so, they were seen as a remarkable step forward, and the following year, the United States Library of Congress decided to produce audiobooks. Over the decades, more and more recording companies sprang up and began producing audiobooks for the blind. By the mid-1950s, the Listening Library had become the main distributor of books on record.

During the 1960s, audiobooks began to be placed on cassettes, which widened their appeal, and then with the advent of compact discs, they began to use that medium as well. By the mid-1990s, the word “audiobook” had made its way into the lexicon and became the industry standard. Now, many decades later, audiobooks are more popular than ever.

Sometime near the beginning of the 2000s, someone decided to create Audiobook Month. Although we’re unsure who invented this holiday, we do know that it has been encouraging people to use audiobooks for quite some time now. And since it’s easier than ever before for people to find audiobooks to listen to, perhaps this is a holiday that more people should observe.

Observing Audiobook Month

Audiobooks can be enjoyed in a number of ways. People can listen to audiobooks through specialized apps and websites that specialize in delivering this type of content, they can buy them through a variety of different outlets, and they can even check out audiobooks on CDs from their local library. Everyone enjoying this month can also let the world know what books they’re listening to by using the hashtag #AudiobookMonth on social media as well.