Without my local library, I would have been cyber space deficient for the last week. AT&T has been going to fix the problem everyday since July 21. I’m glad to see they are true to their word. Thank you for the digital tissue.

More important than my problem could be the future of the library and its patrons. I recently heard a fantastic speech about how the Amazon Kindle might affect book accessibility for those in society who can’t afford to buy their own. If paper books become obsolete, how will those that can’t purchase the four hundred dollar Kindle access books?

But when I mesh this idea with another speech regarding printed newspapers, I am not so sure the Kindle has so much power. Printed newspapers have been labeled as a thing of the past more than once. First with the advent of radio, then television, and now with the internet. Paper newspapers are decreasing in circulation, but we live in a market based on supply and demand.

I know too many people who value printed books and papers. Who would be devastated not to have the pleasure of cracking a new spine and anticipating what is on the next page. Or, unfolding the newspaper and kicking back with a cup of coffee. There is something encouraging about seeing ones bookmark move across the pages every night that I don’t think readers will allow to disappear.