I know, that is not the actual wording of Mark Twain's famous statement, but it is the one we all feel familiar with.
That being said, in light of a recent article in the Washington Post, and echoed in many places elsewhere, it seemed just the right statement. The article was addressing the flattening of eBook sales. Right now, after several years of double and triple percent increases, the latest figures are no more than 5%. Wow, that is a change from the many articles saying that the print book is dead. The article goes on to give a possible explanation, saying:
We may be discovering that e-books are well suited to some types of books (like genre fiction) but not well suited to other types (like nonfiction and literary fiction) and are well suited to certain reading situations (plane trips) but less well suited to others (lying on the couch at home). The e-book may turn out to be more a complement to the printed book, as audiobooks have long been, rather than an outright substitute.
It is what I suspected from the start - after being in the library business for as many eons as I have, you learn not to buy into the hyperbole. eBooks are definitely here to stay, and will represent a sizable portion of reading materials, but unlike the reports of the past few years, the print book will remain a viable method of delivering books into your hands. Now that the dust has settled, we feel more sure of how best to offer books, whether print, digital, or audio. That is why we are careful to offer access to as many formats as possible.
What will the future bring and look like - I can't answer that, but it is an endlessly exciting mystery that continues to unfold.
Oh, and try out our new Kindle that is dedicated strictly to classic books - those great books that libraries want to have, but rarely have the space for them all. Paul, our reference librarian, has been selecting and adding many titles just to make sure that we do offer the widest range of reading materials possible. This is a great use of eBook technology.
