Books Books Books

     Rows and rows of books, small ones large ones, colorful ones plain ones, neatly stacked or in a pile.  There is something about books that's special.  Maybe it's the sent of the paper, the ink or the glue but places that house collections of books and other reading material conjure up memories of trips to the library with my Mother.   I am pretty sure it was on one of those trips that I got to be in charge of my own destiny for the first time.  Mother gave the free will to choose the books I wanted,  never once denying my selections.  Such empowerment  I felt as I stacked the books upon the counter for the librarian to stamp the card inside every book.  The date I read the book was forever marked into history with all the other people who had read the book and all the people that would read the book in the future.  I still get that same empowerment today every time I check out material from the many libraries I visit.
     i Pads, Kindles, Nooks, even laptops and cell phones, the world of reading books is changing before our eyes.  It's a world where books are as antiseptic as they are efficient.  Not wanting to be left behind in this new world I took e Book classes at my home library.  Hugely disappointed was  an understatement to say the least!  The e Book experience is immediate, painless and almost effortless  but I was not expecting the restrictions publishers placed on their material.  Less than 10% of a library's books are available for e Book use and the ones that are have a waiting list a mile long.  I walked out of that class knowing I would never purchase a dedicated e Reader.
     Those sentimental trips I made to the library in my childhood will always bring  a smile to my face ever time I enter one of today's libraries.  Books take up too much space, gather too much dust and are a hassle to move to and from but I like the amazing places that house them.  e Books are not for me but maybe I'll make an exception come Christmas and buy myself an electronic subscription to the New York Times.  I'll be sacrificing a tradition for convenience but I can always take the laptop to the library and set in a cozy oversize chair while I read the e edition of the New York Times.