18.2.13

Will eBooks Reign?


Are some of your favorite books pictured here? The titles include classics such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and A Tale of Two Cities. 

With relationship to the surrounding buildings, these “books” appear to involve a great job of photo editing. However, that is not the case. In Kansas City, Missouri, this “Community Bookshelf” is the façade of the downtown Kansas City Public Library parking structure. The “books” are approximately 25 feet high and 9 feet wide. Kudos, Kansas City Public Library Board of Trustees, for providing these “books” for passersby to view each day.

Many people predict that printed books will disappear, sooner rather than later. Some support for this came with the most recent quarterly statement from my publisher in which eBook downloads accounted for the majority of Child of Desire sales. However, I was encouraged this week when our great-granddaughter, Sophia, cried because her Mommy would not allow her to have a book with her in the bathtub. She and our other great-grandchildren love books and bedtime stories.  Maybe this new generation will save the printed book. We can only hope!  




Sophia Alexandra Fuller, one of our little readers.



Information Source: KCPL website
Library picture from Wordpress
Reading Picture from Megan Donovan Fuller


2 comments:

  1. I don't expect printed books to go away, but I expect that they will diminish. It's a lot easier for arthritic fingers to turn pages on an e-book, and search and bookmark features are fabulous. BUT the batteries on a printed book never have to be recharged or replaced.

    For a variety of reasons, including head, hands and eyes, I'm more into audio books.

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    Replies
    1. Secondary Roads, I think you are right about books still being in print in the future. I like to get autographed copies of some books. I know selected eBooks now have author "signatures," but I don't see that as the same.

      Distressing to me is seeing a child looking at picture books on an electronic application. As a child, part of the fun of owning books was holding them in my hands and touching the print and pictures.

      Universities are now using electronic texts. Some still give the students a choice between electronic and hard cover, but some don't.

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