Today everything seems to be virtual. There is no need to call friends and family on the phone when you can send them an email or use some form of social media to keep in touch. Photographs are all digital now. It only makes sense that books would start to take an electronic form as well. Is it too soon for this though: Bookless Public Library?
I am not going to deny that I myself own a Kindle and use it. I travel and read a lot. Ten years ago when I would go on vacation, half my luggage would be books. Now I may take one physical book and my Kindle. E-readers can supply you with multiple books and allow you to travel light. Plus, having just moved oversees and not able to take too many books with me, the E-reader ensures that I never run out of things to read.
However, while I enjoy my Kindle and having another reading option, I prefer physical books. It is hard to explain how much I enjoy browsing bookstores and libraries, looking at all the different books that I could read, and pulling them off the shelves to explore their back covers. Plus, after working on a computer for eight hours a day, the last thing I want to do is come home and read a novel off of something similar to a computer screen.
As mentioned in a previous post, I have moved quite a few times in my life. It is never easy to adjust to a new home. I’ve lived in some not so great places too. However, it never matters where I am, as soon as I unpack my first book and put it on a shelf or next to my bed, I feel home. In our last home, I loved all seven of our fully packed bookshelves. In our new place in Lucca, we have a parlor/library (pictured above) that I am very excited about. We are already doing our best to fill the shelves with the books that we brought with us and the ones that we are finding here. It is my favorite place in the whole house.
Books and libraries = happiness. Let’s save them both!