The Death of Books.

Books are under threat, like all romantic refugees trying to find their place in the digital era. E-Readers are invading the sacred libraries of literature, and are methodically chewing up the words of coffee stained novels beloved by romantics everywhere. They spit them out into cold, bits and bytes of utilitarian reading that evoke the destruction of books found in the dystopian novel, "Fahrenheit 451."

Digital books lack the sensory experience that I value as much as the subject matter itself. The feel of soft paper flipping through your fingers. It's well worn pages and musty smell welcome you like an old friend, each time you pick it up. It holds pressed flowers and notes from lovers past, scribbles in the margins and all the stains and folds that give it its character. But, with an E-Reader, the only sense that is stimulated is eyesight, which is like having sex without the smells, sounds and tastes that make it magical.

I relish the feeling of holding an open book between my two hands, like my ancestors have done for generations. As you read, a book's weight changes from hand to hand, causing you to adjust your grip along the path. It makes the book feel alive, almost like it's changing it's form in unison with the meandering storyline. But, with an E-Reader, it's just a dead weight in your hands like a paper weight you plunk down on your desk.

Holding a used E-Reader just doesn't sound like it would have the same romance of holding a used book in your hands. In reading old books, I like to read peoples' notes in the margins to see how others interpreted the literature. It often gives me a different insight to the book I hadn't considered before. The scribbled notes are messages from strangers that touch our lives and connect us to one another. But, you can't write notes on E-Books that will last for generations; only until the memory is cleared to refurbish it by some mega-corporation to make way for bigger profits. So many secrets, insights and messages will be lost in the process of pulping away the previous owners marks of individuality. The notes within a used book are time capsules that will be forever lost.

What will happen to our libraries when books are relegated to "fuel for fire" status? They will probably be gutted and denuded to make way for sterile office space in the name of "progress." If we strip books from libraries, we will lose apart of our humanity that connects us with generations past. Gone will be the hushed voices, the quiet reading spaces, the aroma of learning and the memories of thousands. It will be a sad, sad day when our libraries are gone, and I nearly weep at the thought. I will resist the E-book movement as long as I can, and I will never give up my favorite books. If you want them, you'll have to pry them from my cold, dead, hands!!

-hbw