REFLECTIONS ON READING
Professor John E. Jackson is the Naval War College’s Manager for the CNO’s Navy Professional Reading Program.
This is the land of the free—in more ways than one!
One dictionary definition of the word “free” is “enjoying personal rights or liberty.” America is known as the land of the free, and the nation’s military forces remain vigilant to maintain this freedom. But another meaning of “free” is “at no charge or no cost.”A basic tenet of the CNO’s Navy Professional Reading Program (NPRP) is that books should be made available for free to sailors throughout the fleet. Over 1,200 lending libraries of NPRP books have been established on board ships, in squadrons, and at naval facilities around the globe. Books can be checked out at no cost from each of these libraries. But there is another way sailors can borrow books on the NPRP list: thirty-three of the sixty titles are available at the Navy General Library section of the Navy Knowledge On-Line (NKO) website, www.nko.navy.mil.
NKO is a remarkable resource that is available to all active-duty, retired, or reserve personnel (and their dependents) of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Civil Service personnel and contractors working for the Department of Navy are also eligible to open NKO accounts. Once registered, users can go to the Navy General Library Program site to find over a hundred thousand books, magazines, periodicals, songs, and videos—for free! The rules vary for the use of different forms of digital media. Some material can be downloaded for specific periods of time and expire or are automatically deleted from personal computers or portable devices at the end of the lending period. In other cases, users can download and keep the material indefinitely. Among the thirty-three titles available to download through NKO are such popular books as these:
Lone Survivor, by Marcus Luttrell, the story of Navy SEALs in combat in Afghanistan, is available as a downloadable electronic book (e-book) that can be displayed on computers or on portable devices such as Kindles or iPads and also as an audiobook that can be downloaded to MP3 players and other audio devices.
The Last Stand of the Tin-Can Sailors, by James D. Hornfischer, a powerful book about Navy surface warfare in World War II, is available both as an e-book and as an audiobook.
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (and now a major motion picture starring Brad Pitt), a great case study of analysis and personnel management set in a major league baseball team, is available as an audiobook.
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, a best-selling book that offers alternative ways of looking at fads and trends and encourages readers to consider the possibility that things are not always what they appear to be, is available on NKO as an audiobook.
The Navy Professional Reading Program was established to encourage all sailors to expand their horizons by reading (or perhaps by listening to) books about subjects that interest them. With a little searching, you should be able to find an NPRP library aboard ship or at your base, where you can borrow the books at no cost. NKO provides another source for this material, and much more. Finally, books from the NPRP can be purchased at the Navy Exchange at a significant discount if you want to retain them as part of your professional library.
It’s a free country—and you are always free to learn!
john e. jackson