The Reading Revolution

My search for a kindle for my daughter, coupled with a late night conversation with my husband about eight tracks has forced me to envision a world without books.  The Nook e-reader by Barnes and Noble has a platform allowing you to borrow library books and Amazon has recently announced that the Kindle will link to the national library system from their very own platform as well.  Libraries  have been experiencing massive budget cuts and closures for years and the reading revolution isn't helping. Turning real pages will become nostalgic and we'll be telling our grandchildren stories about field trips to "the library". The minimalist in me rejoices at the possibility of world without shelves upon shelves of dusty books. The traditionalist in me wonders if I'll miss that new book smell or the resistance under your index finger when you press along the inside binding, breaking in the book. 3,000 books on one little device. Who would have thought!