As an English Major, I think books are important.  I’d probably be in the wrong course of study if I didn’t.  I have more favorites than I can name and a good quote never ceases to put a smile on my face.  But as I worry about most things in society, I also worry about the future of books.

I think the idea of the Nook, the Kindle, and other such devices is brilliant.  My back would much rather I carried around a lightweight device than a stack of novels.  E-books are far cheaper and environmentally friendly.  I would no longer need to carry around a pencil, pen, or highlighter, because there are built in note taking devices.  It seems to be the perfect combination of everything that I could want or need while doing my homework or reading a novel for fun.

But see, here’s the thing.  It doesn’t feel like a book.  It doesn’t smell like a book.  It doesn’t look like a book.  And, content aside, those are largely the reasons that people fall in love with books in the first place.  There’s nothing quite like flipping through the pages to find the place where he falls in love with the girl or stumbling upon a quote that you underlined and wanted to remember later.

If the e-reader catches on, what is to happen to the art of book making?  The Book Store?  The Library?  Will we no longer be able to spend the day amongst the shelves, wiping off dust or holding close to our hearts the novels we’d been searching for?  Is the book destined to die out like the record, the cd?

Perhaps my distress is misdirected.  After all, the book itself, a literary work of art, a story, is not what’s dying out.  Perhaps it’s just time for the book to take its place in the ever-evolving society that exists today.  I cannot say for certain whether the paper book will still be around in the future.  I cannot say that the e-reader will catch on.

All I can say is that if books become a thing of my childhood, the things I’ll miss the most are the smell, the wear-and-tear, and the feeling that I’m carrying around not only a story, but a friend.