This post is a bit dramatic. My wife and I have 1-2k books. We know multiple people who have such libraries. I don't think they're going anywhere. And this is even though I have a Kindle.
All people are going somewhere. As he writes: "this library and I might share the same dissolution". What you and your wife are doing today isn't evidence against his point. The question is what happens to those books after you die.
I recently did a cross-country move and did some pruning of my books. In thinking about what to keep, I realized that as far as practical considerations go, I could have just scanned the bar codes, made a list, and gotten electronic editions of anything if I ever needed to read it again. I instead kept most of them, but for entirely non-practical reasons.
I think people born today just aren't going to have the same emotional connection to physical books. For me, growing up in an age of information scarcity, they were a gateway to wonders. And even now, like the author, they're a reminder of where I've been, a map to the interior of my head. But I'd be wildly surprised if my teen relatives, many of whom are avid readers, ever built up libraries large enough to be cumbersome.
So when I kick off, I fully expect that my treasured books will be scattered to the winds. If I'm lucky a few will be taken as keepsakes. But as a library, I expect it will die with me.
Books are not going away. My kids devour books just like I did when I was a kid. Books can be lent, gifted, borrowed. Books can be discovered in physical places, in the school library, the public library, in a bookstore.
I'm not saying they're the same. And I am sure some kids favor physical books. But the question for me is the extent to which any of them will spend a lot of effort building and hauling around personal libraries when the digital equivalents are always available. And when it's easy enough to get another paper copy if you're willing to wait a few days.
Some will, I'm sure, the way that some people born after CDs and digital music collect vinyl. But personally I'd guess it'll be a similarly niche interest, just another collector's hobby.
All of my kids have received Kobo ereaders when they became proficient at reading. Kobo is owned by the same company as Overdrive, which is our library's e-lending platform, so they can easily check out books themselves.
Each of the kids got their ereader when they were 6-7 years old. Now:
- 13-year-old mostly reads sports news on his phone
- 11-year-old mostly reads paper books, occasionally ebooks on his phone
- 9-year-old can't find her ereader, reads tons of paper books
- 6-year-old just got her ereader and is devouring books on it (which is always the reaction when they first get it)
My one weird trick - for those you look at second-hand bookstores.
If I see a book I already own that I love, then I buy another copy. Then I can give it away later to someone who I think will appreciate it.
I try not to lend out my favorite books because it is too much trouble to track where they went. Although most people mean well, books don't always boomerang.
My son, 4 years old, himself has > 100 books. So at least some people born today will have a connection to physical books!
I don't disagree that this is probably getting less popular, since of course physical copies used to be the only way to consume them.
> as a library, I expect it will die with me
Yes, I think that is completely true. Why wouldn't it be? I think libraries have always held most value to the collectors themselves. I have a few rare books, but most of the value of my library is personal.
> My son, 4 years old, himself has > 100 books. So at least some people born today will have a connection to physical books!
And people have surely given him lots of stuffed animals too, but it's the rare adult who hauls around a significant collection of them.
> I think libraries have always held most value to the collectors themselves.
In recent years, sure, where books are an affordable and ultimately disposable consumer entertainment. Especially now that you can easily get a used copy of almost any book easily and cheaply. But that's a pretty small slice of "always".
