Week 16 Prompt The future of books

When I was a child, my mom took me to the local public library.  I remember reading a hundred books in the summer and another hundred books during the school year.  These books had to be mom approved, so they had to wholesome books, like Little House on the Prairie books.  I read all of those books and I also loved biography books about presidents.  The only fiction books I remember reading were C. S. Lewis books, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  I also read Mark Twain books.  Today, I read anything and everything.  I still love to read biographies, but I also read fiction books.  In my opinion books have gotten more interesting than they used to be, but my range for reading has increased also.  I like to know what someone was thinking and why they did they things that they did.  I also like comics because I need to laugh and get into the stories, like Luann.  I have learned a lot from other people's experiences and I have really learned a lot from this class.  Today, I also like to look at picture books and maps.  When I look at art or a photograph, I think about the story behind the painting or the photo and sometimes there is a story in the book.  I have pictures of guys from World War II and they are very friendly toward each other.  The guys were not looked at as gay because gay just meant happy back in those days.  I must say, now we are overwhelmed with media, books, things to read on the internet or watch on the computer we hardly have time to relax and smell the roses.  When I finished ninth grade my supervisor gave me a Rand McNally Road Atlas and I used to study those maps for hours.  I imaged traveling to all the states and visiting historic places and parks.  In my imagination I have been everywhere, but in reality I have been to 35 or the 50 states, plus Mexico and Haiti. There have been times when I feel like I have missed out because I was restricted in my reading as a child growing up in a very religious home, but I have tried to make up for lost time.  I still have a lot more books I want to read.

The future of books is a little scary, if you only like books that you can touch and feel.  There was a time that I was against eBooks and audio books, but now I get it.  One problem with physical books is that they can be damaged.  I had to buy a book from the library last week because it damaged in transit to the library.  When a person gets a books on their computer or e-reader they don't have worry about returning the book or the book becoming damaged.  I have also become overwhelmed with some many books that I don't have time to read or even places to put them.  When you have a book on the computer or e-reader you save a lot of space.  You also don't have to visit the library.  I see more and more people reading books and checking out books without going to the library.  In 20 years, I believe this will more popular than it is today.  Today's babies will be young adults in twenty years and they will use the latest technology and not  need to read books so much.  Reading for them will be more interactive because they will be into the latest gadgets. The older generation will be the ones at the library because they are still used to checking books out.  As far as the young people today, I don't see them reading much in 20 years.  I believe books will still be published in 20 years, but not as much as they are today.  I have noticed as far as textbooks for library science that we using less textbooks than I did in classes that I took in the past.  I believe this trend will continue.

 I am truly amazed how my views of reading, what to read and the future of reading has changed since I took this class.  I didn't read much before this class, but watched more TV.  I hope from this class I can show people how amazing it is to read a book and let the book go into your imagination.  This is so much better than waiting till the book comes out in a movie.  It is also better than watching mind numbing sitcoms or reality TV.  My goal in life right now is not just to get a great job, but also to convince people the importance of reading.  If a person has a hard time reading or poor eyesight they can listen to the book and this will be great also.