The overt goal of the residency is to foster a space for people to experience literature more thoughtfully. The underlying goal is to make them want to smash their phones with a sledgehammer.

“We do so much reading now, but it’s mostly reading for information at best. At best. At worst it’s like a pure little shot of dopamine before moving to the next post,” said Steven Shafer, Perelandra’s current reader-in-residence. “It is almost the exact opposite of what I’ve gotten to experience here.”

Yeah ok, no. Like I get trying to get more people to read books. I'm a reader and it's a lot different than doom scrolling or whatever. But you're never going to get people to not value their phones. We have a computer in our pocket that cannot be replicated by even the Library of Alexandria.

Are the readers-in-residence allowed to read their books on their phone?

In simpler terms, you won’t find labels like “fiction” or “biography” on the shelves. Instead, you’ll find genre labels lifted from book titles (“Living by Fiction”), poetry lines (“Flood the Margins”) or wordplay (“Subject, Object, Predicament”).

I get what they’re going for, but good grief that sounds like it would be annoying if you’re looking for a particular book.