History of the Printed Book

I recently took a class at the Chicago Botanic Gardens called "History of the Printed Book." It was a great class in which we got to work with and learn about incunabula (books printed, not handwritten, before 1501) and discuss the future of the printed book. At the end of the semester, we watched Farewell, Etaoin Shrdlu, a short film on the last day of the New York Times hot type press and the transition to cold type. The class and the movie left me with the question of what is the real future of the book? How will future generations use and value paper and printed materials? How will librarians be perceived in this ever-changing environment?

Our professor, Ed Valauskas, brought up many interesting points about the future of the printed book. He mentioned a book, Born Digital, that provides interviews with young people that have grown up with computers and what books and digital mediums mean to them. I have yet to read this book, but it's definitely on my list!

Another point that was made is that there are more books being published now than any point in history. One possible reason for this is that books sell better if they are online. If you like what you read in an abstract, then you are more likely to purchase the actual book. Publishers can also use the internet to their advantage and use marketing tools to see what people are looking up, and then print more or less copies on that topic or book depending on what users are interested in online. One example of this is Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin's grandfather, who has come into popularity over the past few years.

My conclusion is that technology does not mean the end to the book. Quite the contrary - I believe it means a greater interest in the value of printed materials, new innovations (which this country needs now more than ever!) such as digital paper, and the future of the library as a place for technological and literary exploration.

How will books look in the future? Only time will tell. Will everyone be reading Kindles? I doubt it. Will printed books go the way of the dinosaur? No way!

What an exciting time to be a librarian!