As a small child I can remember being read to constantly. Those early books were the ones my parents could afford, mostly Little Golden Books, as we did not live in an area with library services. I would read those books over and over again. When I began reading on my own, I was the child always walking around with my nose in a book. I wanted to read everything. I was eight years old when "The baby-sitter club" series began and I was hooked. Luckily, the series was popular and new books were published frequently. I recall the bookstore pre-ordering them for me and when they called, I literally could not wait to go, pick it up, devour it and anxiously await the next installment.
Currently, I am fortunate to have a public library to borrow books from as they are even more expensive and I read them just as fast. I still enjoy readings books that are part of a series and once I begin a new book, I literally cannot stop reading it.
I think the future of books will definitely exist. Ebooks are now a norm. I can see Google Glass and other similar products allowing for the wearer to listen or read through them. As technology evolves the options for entertainment will as well. We are raising future readers, so the demand will be there. Books will be printed as long as they are purchased.
I really enjoyed taking the Readers' Advisory class this semester. I was finally able to read fiction, learned a lot and had fun!
I agree Laurie. Money talks. Until the printed word becomes unprofitable, there will be a future for the printed book. There will be advances in technology, but there are even teens (who despite there adept skills with technology) who rather read a printed book than an ebook.
ReplyDeleteI agree that books are still a pretty good money making business. One of my favorite graphic novel writers for children recently did a talk where he discussed how much he made on a 2-book advance and the amount was really depressing. Another author who recently visited our library said there's many different levels of success. Some authors are paid just $1000 as an advance. I do feel like eBooks will thrive, especially for those authors that get fed up and go the self publishing route.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your comment that we are raising readers. Something else that has been discussed consistently this semester are YA books and how far they have come. I think that this proves that point and shows that we are and will continue to encourage reading in our youth.
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