Thing 20. Books

In my library, print items are on the decrease, mainly due to our budget or lack of one. I think this trend will continue for the forseeable future. I have noticed the use by students of the Kindle. When one can download a bestseller or textbook for a fraction of the cost of a printed item, the Kindle will be the hotseller of the future! I have tried one myself and really liked it. There was honestly so much listed on this particular Thing that I had trouble choosing what to look at. I found the discussion on the lending of Kendles in the library interesting and something that my library, UNF, may look at soon. It is interesting that one of the uses for this was inter-library loan materials. I also visited the "DailyLit" site for books. This site makes it easy to download books on one's computer. I would not like to read books on my cellphone!! For someone recovering from eye surgery it would be like visiting a bad nightmare!! However, for someone young, with excellent eyesight who is able to afford a cellphone but not a Kindle, they might find this "BooksinmyPhone" 2.0 tool fits their lifestyle and wallet. There is a repository in Florida call "The Orange Grove" that may just change the future of education here. Take a look: http://www.theorangegrove.org/ It is a gathering ov best practices, resources, research, and lessons, and textbooks, for teachers to use and students to learn from. It is being created even as you read this. Will print die? Probably not, it will go the way of the radio after TV came of age. For those of us who love to sit and read an actual book we may very well see the return of small local print book shops and the death (dare I say it??!!) of the big bookstores like Barnes and Noble. You will just have to get your coffee somewhere else!