Some recent articles on the shifting world of books:- New York Times: In Digital Age, Students Still Cling to Paper Textbooks: I know some loads can be heavy, and the searchable features on electronic books are pretty amazing, but I still love that intimate contact with a book. And as an instructor in the literature and literature-related fields, I think we can stand to stick with the paper versions for some time. I know some universities have textbook rental, which is a nice, cost-efficient alternative.
- New York Times: Picture Books No Longer Staple for Children: No need to rush our minnow. She'll be inundated with all sorts of clever picture-books from our end.
- Wall Street Journal: New Libraries Technologies Dispense with Librarians: I'm grateful to read that our local librarian has spoken out against the shift. I love being able to wander through the aisles, going for one thing and coming away with another. And story hour and coming home with a stack, library days when I was little at the hat-library in Chattanooga. I want my own children to have affection for this place, their local library, and not a book-locker or a vending machine.
3 comments:
One of my favorite things was organizing the picture book wall at B&N. It gave me an excuse to comb through all those titles that I might have missed at one point or another.
I already have a decent picture book collection started, even though we don't have any children yet. While I appreciate novels, I think that in some ways it's even harder to write a good picture book. And mostly I respect and admire the illustrators that create such beautiful works.
I absolutely adore books. When I say books I mean pieces of paper, with words (some with pictures), bound together. I love them handmade, from the library, from the used bookstore, and when they arrive brand spanking new in the mail. Wandering through an online catalog will never compare to wandering through a library or bookstore. That being said, I sometimes wonder if I should try to read a book on a Kindle or an iPad so I know what it is actually like. I used to swear I'd never use a digital camera, and now...
Oh, just read the last article and feeling a little ill. That photograph of the Hugo library is heartbreaking. Some of my best early memories are about going to the library with my mom. Gosh, could they really all go away at some point? So sad.
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