The future of the book

Someone sent in This Story from the desertnews, it takes a good
look at ebooks.

Nancy Tessman is director of the Salt
Lake City Library, the institution that has become the Utah
focal point of the recent Library of Congress project, the
Center for the Book.

\”There\’s room for it all,\” she says. \”At the library,
we\’re not seeing anything but the traditional book format.
There is absolutely no sign of a lack of devotion to the
book itself. People want access to technological
information, but it is an option. The more access people
have, whether on the Web or on television, the more they
turn to traditional forces. Our book circulation is up

Someone sent in This Story from the desertnews, it takes a good
look at ebooks.

Nancy Tessman is director of the Salt
Lake City Library, the institution that has become the Utah
focal point of the recent Library of Congress project, the
Center for the Book.

\”There\’s room for it all,\” she says. \”At the library,
we\’re not seeing anything but the traditional book format.
There is absolutely no sign of a lack of devotion to the
book itself. People want access to technological
information, but it is an option. The more access people
have, whether on the Web or on television, the more they
turn to traditional forces. Our book circulation is up Kent Walgren, owner of Scalawag Books, a store that sells
used and rare books, says the reason the book will last \”has
more do with ease and warmth of a book as compared to a neon
screen. The technology is changing the way people relate to
books and having a profound effect on the way people buy
them. We list 4,000 books on the Internet, which accounts
for one-third of our sales. It used to be 5 percent.\”

Walgren is sad that buyers of old books will soon
not even be able to browse the quaint old book shops. \”Not
because they\’re not around, but because the stock will all
be in warehouses. People in used and rare books usually do
it out of love for books. It results in a meager living, but
I like the people I meet, and I like being around ideas and
books. I like meeting people who are like-minded.\”
In Walgren\’s opinion, the Internet is a necessity
today for used and rare b