Library News, by David W. Keeber
Red Rock News
Date: September 14, 2007
Every once in awhile, I receive a newspaper clipping announcing the end of the book. In the New York Times of September 6th, there was an article entitled “Are Books Passé?” It discussed the advent of two new electronic reader devices that both Google and Amazon were poised to release. Is this the death knell of the printed word? Is the Library on its last legs? Will our grandchildren never enjoy the pleasure of reading a good book while curled up next to a fireplace or in bed? And my answer is always – yes and no.
First, just to ad a bit of context, it is important to remember that reading is really only a couple of hundred years old, as far as a widely held skill, and that may be pushing it. For most of human history, information has been passed along via stories told around the campfire, via cave painting, pictures pecked into rock or some other visual format. Reading books by the majority of the population is a very recent state of affairs.
My view, heretical is it may sound, is that I am more interested in getting information to people and the format is less important to me. Now, I know that will elicit gasps from some of you, but information can come in many forms – not just books. Try viewing a great painting, listening to a beautiful piece of music, or just having a meaningful conversation. Yes, books are wonderful, but they are only one way to get the data across to the “reader.”
The Sedona Public Library is about to release a new form of electronic book called the Playaway. This is a single book on a match box sized device that is essentially an MP3 player. The fun part of this format is that the previous need to listen to your audiobooks sitting in front of your stereo at home or in your car is no longer the restriction. Instead, you can be fully mobile to work in your yard, go for a hike, or any other activity and still listen to the book of your choice. Kids have their iPods or other mobile players. Now, those who have wondered about these things can try a Playaway book and find out how simple and enjoyable being mobile with a book can be.
For a number of years, we have had books on tape, then books on CD. We have had VHS and DVD movies and shows from Discovery, PBS and others. That the item is electronic is already a fact – and the fact is that audio visual items are a hugely popular format.
Yet, books still hold a fascination for me and for millions of others. In spite of the fact that books in electronic formats are beginning to show themselves as more and more viable, I have no doubt that the book as a physical item will remain for many years to come. There certainly are advantages to books delivered electronically. Take for example the many pounds of books that our children lug around in their backpacks? Why not have the texts they use in a single electronic reader? Wouldn’t a slim electronic reader for these be just as good?
Just as there are a range within every form of things we buy, there can just as easily be a number of formats for books and movies. If you decide that one format is better for you at a particular time, you buy that. If another format is better at a different time, you buy that. No problem. Those who wring their hands to bemoan the end of the book simply have forgotten the laws of supply and demand – as long as people want them and we can make them, books as we know them will survive.
Edgar Guest wrote a wonderful homage to books in his “A Book.” “Now,” said a good book unto me, “Open my pages and you shall see, Jewels of wisdom and treasures fine, Gold and silver in every line. And you may claim them if you but will. Open my pages and take your fill.”
“I am just a book on your mantle shelf. But I can be a part of your living self; If only you’ll travel my pages thru, Then, I will travel with world with you. Open my pages and run them o’er. Take what you choose from my golden store.”
“I’ll make you fitter to talk with men. I’ll touch with silver the lines you pen. I’ll lead you nearer the truth you seek. I’ll strengthen you when your faith grows weak. Come, take me, know me, love me well. Let me come into your mind to dwell.”
Whether it is printed, hand written, electronic or aurally delivered, a book will still perform the same magic in your mind and in your heart. Try reading, hearing or viewing one today!
