Articles predicting the end of printed books have been sounding the alarm since the beginning of the millennium. Library closures, kindles and social media dominance have certainly hailed a new era. Yet, for the past couple of years there has been a shift – Sales of e-books have stagnated, Waterstones has returned to Oxford Street after eight years and the stock prices of the top UK independent book publishers are strong. Tangible volumes must still retain some magic.
As a baby boomer, I have a huge fondness for the hard backed bound texts of my youth and continually search for these old library copies in second hand shops, both virtual and online. “Yet, don’t forget to purchase new books so that the living authors won’t die out”, admonished a friend in publishing. As a tutor and director of a tutor agency, I am a huge proponent of the value of reading and want to promote the purchase of books both new and used. So…
Chelsea and Fulham Tutors have launched our Instagram social media campaign promoting a series of books recommended by our tutors as well as a myriad of online book stores:
Instagram Feed – What is it about books….
Reading improves your creativity as well as your focus and concentration. Written stories compel the reader to live in the present and to use their imagination naturally to create the images of the characters and plot in their mind, unlike watching the ready made visual depictions in film. Readers are forced to become empathetic with characters speaking in the narrative voice, often learning about the hardships in life for others.
Research shows that people are much more likely to remember details they read in a literal book than in a digital one – and most readers find it much easier to flip through the pages of a physical book. The book is a tactile portable friend who alleviates loneliness. Every good tale can open up new dimensions of ideas and impart years of experience within its pages. The unexpected knowledge and perspective gained makes one humble at the immensity of the world.
Will physical books ever become obsolete? In the distant future, it’s a definite possibility. But for the time being, these paper tomes of “legacy media” have too many advantages to ignore. Printed books aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
