IN Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Miss Caroline Bingley announces:
"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading. How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book." It is evidently a sentiment with which the people of the Orkney islands of North Ronaldsay and Papa Westray wholeheartedly agree.
Even in this age when most people can download their reading matter electronically, the 162-strong combined populations of the two islands still regard the printed book as king.
The islanders relish their twice-weekly book deliveries from the main library in Kirkwall, a service that has continued unabated since 1954.
Much has happened over the past 50 years, but the power and allure of the printed book have scarcely diminished. A book needs no electricity supply, no internet connection, nor credit card account. All that is required is the time and space to exercise one's imagination.
The Family Box Service is a link with the past that is to be treasured. One islander says that "when the box comes though every month, it's a little bit like Christmas". Truly, the book - especially in Orkney's case - is the gift that keeps on giving.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article