Years ago my Napa Valley Register was delivered around 5 p.m. Now I get the paper earlier. Is the Register becoming a “morning” paper?

Funny you should ask! Alas, that is not the name of this column.

As some of you — though not all of you — may know, the Register recently became a morning paper. In fact, we only made it official three days ago, with the April 7 issue.

Though this question was submitted months ago, I saw it fitting to use it in my Glad You Asked debut, as I follow in the footsteps of Jill Decker.

So who’s responsible for the change to mornings? Well, you, the reader.

Napa Valley Register Publisher Brenda Speth said, “This comes from months, even years of readers’ requests. News and information have changed, and readers want their newspaper in a more timely manner. Now, we can gather news faster. It was an internal team effort to transition to the early morning conversion.”

In recent years, the Register was delivered early in the morning on weekends, but as late as noon on weekdays, and even later if a route was handled by students, or so-called junior carriers. This did little for people with an early morning news habit.

Speth said people want to read the newspaper while enjoying their coffee, or they take it along with them during their morning commute. Plus, “People are busy in the afternoons with their other commitments. They just don’t have time to read the paper that late in the day,” she said.

Change is the order of the day in the news business. Technology now plays an important role in providing Register readers with instant gratification by way of the newspaper’s Web site, napavalleyregister.com.

Stories — especially breaking news — that develop when it would be difficult to get them into the newspaper now don’t have to wait a day. They can quickly be published on the Web.

Circulation Director Stephen Schurkey is the first to know if readers are unhappy about something. So what is the word a few days after the switch to a.m.? It’s been quiet.

“When things are going well, we don’t hear anything,” said Schurkey. “It’s when people are dissatisfied with their service that the phone calls start pouring in.”

Speth says she has received a few e-mails telling her how pleased people are about the change. She believes that the conversion caters to readers’ needs and may help the Register grow its total audience, both in print and online. People who see an interesting story in the newspaper early in the day might tell someone who looks for it online, or vice-versa.

I have already received a couple of phone calls along the same lines. Two people have called on unrelated topics, and then at the end of the calls have said something to the effect of, “By the way, I like the early delivery.”

Glad you’re happy.

What is Glad You Asked?

Glad You Asked attempts to answer readers’ questions whether they pop into their minds at dusk or dawn. Question with your coffee? Ask me! Send your questions to dmontanez@napanews.com or call 256-2224.