Texas library offers glimpse of bookless future

Montag decides he must try to memorize the Bible he has in his hands. What if he never has another chance? But the sound of an advertisement is, as usual, being chanted through the train's sound system -- an ad which repeats "Denham's Dentifrice, Denham's Dentifrice" over and over again.

Although Montag tries desperately to memorize part of the book -- particularly the line "Consider the lilies of the field; they toil not, neither do they spin" -- the noise is so distracting that he forgets the words as soon as he reads them. Montag is reminded of a childhood memory, of trying to fill up a sieve with sand: right now, he feels as if his mind is a sieve and the words are falling out of it. He feels so desperate that -- although he's openly holding a book openly on a train full of people -- he stands up and yells at the loudspeakers: "Shut up!" The other passengers stare, and Montag staggers off the train just before missing his stop.

When Montag reaches Faber's house, he finds the old man looking tired, thin and suspicious. Faber interrogates Montag, asking what has shaken Montag up -- after all, he's been a fireman for years: why is he no longer happy with the status quo? Montag says that he doesn't know what's wrong with him and the world, but he knows something is. And the only things Montag knows are now missing from the world are all the books he's been burning for the past ten years. So he thought turning back to books for the answers might help.

Source
Ray Bradbury was right, again.
When they control the content, they control the people.

reply to post by six67seven

A library that is non-existent if the electricity goes out.... a library with content that can be.... altered digitally? A library that requires you to sit in front of a screen rather than relax in a chair. A library that you don't see book cover art, peruse the aisles and notice other books nearby, maybe spend a few more minutes on your feet instead of on your ass, just like at home with the video game controller..... I love books. I go nowhere without a book. No battery needed, no worries about recharging, no electronic trash when the designed to fail and be replaced electronic item breaks down with no chance of repair. No one to monitor what I choose to read at the library. I'm a library luddite.

I like my iPad for reading, I wished I had something like this when I was in the army.
I LOVE to read, and whenever I go somewhere, I need to have a book, be it to a restaurant, drs office, wherever. When I go on vacation, I like to have reading material, but because I read so fast, I need a few books with me, but which ones to bring?
I can spend DAYS worrying about what books to read.
With my iPad, I can literally bring them all. I have over 600 books on my iPad and read every one of them, some a few times.
For me it's convenience.

reply to post by six67seven


I was expecting this and was highly disappointed by what the library really looks like.

Oh well.

reply to post by HomerinNC


you beat me to posting that... in a similar vein,my friend is handicapped and can't be lugging books around, she found her little kindle was really handy during the really LONG wait when she took her son to the ER, nice to have a bunch of choices to pick from all on her little tablet.

also makes train travel easier for her, with no real books to schlep....

I know somebody younger who is a really fast reader, he would take 6 or 7 books with him on trips , that kindle for him is a godsend for sure!!!

I do understand those who like the feel of real books...my favorite childhood memories were of sitting by the wall heater, reading mysteries, totally absorbed in the story.

Having worked in a public library since 1976 I have seen the coming of online catalogues and of course searchable databases for our books, the national library, other public libraries, scientific libraries, university libraries etc.

In Denmark we are proud to serve our patrons, presenting them with facts as well as fiction. We are proud to announce that we are "Google with a quality filter". We are keepers of fact. We are presenters of fact. And we offer the long needed vacation into imaginary realms.

That being said we should take note, that the Bibliotech is an all digital library in an area where wifi and broadbamd is very scarce. It therefore offers patrons the internet with all its glories (unless it is filtered for "offensive content"). Being an obvious Apple Superstore it is likely to be filtered, just as Apple does "as a matter of fact".

I read the article with great interest and noted that it claimed almost 100,000 visitors the first year. We have that in one of our branches in a few months. As one of my collegues said... Most were probably there to check it out, they may never return. And quite frankly I wouldn't blame them.
With physical books you can offer the patrons an immediate gratifikation as they can bring the book home and read it at their leisure. They don't have to own a reader and they aren't bound by being able to borrow one from the library (if there is any available).

But that being said, I must admit that I love the digital format. I have three readers (one Sony and two iPads). I read all my books on them, but I buy the books in physical form. We have several hundreds of quality classics. For when we grow old and to make sure that they don't disappear in a computer meltdown. Or cannot be reclaimed because some stupid company suddenly invalidates my purchases.

I particularly love having the programming manuals where I can add notes and even include my own workflow drawings. Also love the fact that I can mark of text and search the internet just by tapping on the markup. I have calculators, translators, dictionaries, converters, videos, tutorials etc. whenever I need it. Not when I get up from my chair and realize that my paper dictionary doesn't have new definitions and the library is closed.

My mother loves how she can have any text at all read out aloud to her, even from books that hasn't been deemed worthy of being made into an audio book.

People who claim that a 1200 page book is more convenient than a reader ....
I suspect they are being stubborn.

It is the written word that is important - not where you read it. When the medium is an important part of the story, then your focus is probably not on what is important. The story itself.
And there are exeptions - I know. Then buy them as physicals.

But even loving the physical format, I'd fight tooth and nail to prevent physical books from being removed from "my library". At least until everybody has a personal reader. Until then we must safeguard access to books for those who haven't - (or won't) - switched to entirely digital reading.