For some time now I have been asking people about reading eBooks. I have been surprised by the responses I have been getting. Assuming (quite wrongly) that most people think like me, and they would want to reduce the use of paper from trees, reduce pollution from the inks and press chemicals, and that they might enjoy the convenience of carrying an entire library around with you in one unit. Ha!
Almost everyone said they don't read eBooks. Or books anymore, but that's another story.
Maybe one of our nation’s founders would have approved of the eBook reader. Thomas Jefferson nearly bankrupted himself buying books in Paris and shipping them back to Monticello. 6,487 of them. He then sold them to the US Government for $23,950 to pay off his debts and thus founded the Library of Congress.
To be sure other rich and famous folks have been collecting vast libraries of books, but we the 99% can also enjoy such a lifestyle by embracing the mighty eBook, instead of building your own brick and mortar library.
Karl Lagerfield is said to have 300,000 volumes, George Lucas 27,000 or more, Michael Jackson had over 10,000 at Neverland, Ernest Hemingway collected more than 9,000, Hearst Castle was overflowing with books and had two libraries with more than 7000.
You can now have your own library rivaling such proportions, and carry it with you, read it anywhere, and smile with your vast superiority over those who have to deal with dusty old paper that sits in one place. You can amass a vast library for free at some Internet sites, and if you have the Kindle reader you can share eBooks with each other.
While researching a book I was writing, using an eBook reader saved me a lot of time, and money. Going to libraries to look through the stacks, I would then either have to spend money copying pages, or time transcribing notes on the spot from reference volumes not allowed to be loaned out.
My little library is far less than 9,000 or more volumes, but contains things that I have actually enjoyed reading, or used in research. And it travels.
You, Biden'sVagina, Candy Gal and 3 others like this.
You need to be logged in to comment
