Endangered Species

We’ve talked so much about the future of books that it got me thinking about the future of another book-related item currently ubiquitous in our population: bookcases. With the decline in book sales and the move to digital storage of books, what will happen to this piece of furniture? Originally, it must have developed to fit the book mold and demand for a way to hold and display the new commodity, the book, that everybody was suddenly able to get their hands on.

I love bookcases. Granted, I love bookcases because I love books and bookcases are servants to their book masters. Still, I do not want to see bookcases go the way of coat racks, china cabinets, and typewriting desks. I want bookcases to continue to prosper and survive forever. They aren’t as easily digitalized as books are (though both the Kindle and Nook have tried) and so more concrete, implementable and physical uses must be thought up as digitalization spreads.

Here are a few of my own ideas:

-Boats: Bookcases can be flipped up to form perfect sitting nooks for passengers on the modified raft. Hard book covers can even be used for oars.

-Baby cradles: Having multiples is hard enough. Why waste extra expense buying three separate baby cribs when you can just flip a small bookcase over and be all set?

-Feeding troughs: Those multiples are going to grow up and need to eat real food. And boy, will they be messy! Plop some food in the bookcase and let the little tikes chow to their heart’s desire. Afterwards, just spray the case down. No muss, no fuss.

-Planters: So you want to grow zucchini, carrots, and squash? But you’re OCD and terrified of inter-vegetable root tangling? Get a bookcase! Each shelf can be earmarked for a different plant!

This threat of extinction goes far beyond bookshelves. What about the future of bookmarks? The longevity of book lights? What remaining life can be expected for bookends? These are just a few tragic examples of all of the species lined up and awaiting their sad demise in the face of digital takeover.

I have been reading for well over a decade and have accumulated quite a few of these book accessories, accessories I store on top of the beautiful, simple cedar bookcase that (barely) houses and protects my personal library. This bookcase is one of my very favorite things in my room. Besides my bed, my bookcase is also the most dominating item in my room, taking up a whole half a wall plus a dome of floor space in front for insured ease of book access. When digital becomes an even more omnipresent force than it is now, what will people do with this extra space in their living and bedrooms? Will they get even bigger beds? Even larger TV screens? Or will the space still be devoted to reading--perhaps with a comfy chair perfect for curling up in a ball to peruse the digitalized text that will represent our only physical manifestation of books (A temporary manifestation lasting only as long as it takes our eyes to scan over a page and our fingers to flip to the next screen.)?

I don’t think we all need to run out to Half-Price Books and stock up on the spines we can balance between our hands and chins just yet: the book apocalypse will not occur for quite some time--and in fact may never occur. It is something to consider though. If literary-providing powerhouses such as Barnes & Noble’s are having serious financial issues, it can be assumed that time will only lead to more and more Borders-like shutdowns. We, current readers, still resist digitalization to some degree because we have known something else. We grew up ingrained with the knowledge of what the feel of a page rubbed between two fingers is like. That physical connection is a huge part of what books mean to us, but this will not be the case for our children and their children. Change is coming for future generations. I guarantee it.

Books are great; both in physical and pixellated formats. Digitalization isn’t all bad. But I think it is a worthwhile endeavor to try and picture what the future might look like. If we don’t like what we see we need to start thinking of ideas NOW for how to change this projected image. Now, before it is too late and physical books have officially moved from the threatened, to the endangered, and finally to the extinct list.

What do you think the future of books will look like?