Fool's Gold

I have been reading this book for the past week. I am not yet finished, but it brings up some interesting points. The author, Mark Herring, posits that we have come to a confluence of attitudes and events that make it possible that libraries will cease to exist. Among the factors he mentions are the idea that "everything is online anyway," the fact that more and more younger people are choosing NOT to read and read poorly as a result, and people have begun to prefer their news and information in "sound bites" rather than scholarly or well considered pieces. He goes on to discuss these at length, and although I find I do not agree with everything he says, I do think there are several points to consider. First of all, as Doug Johnson has pointed out, we may well be headed toward a post literate society. While Herring does not use that label, he makes many of the same observations as Johnson, only with a great deal more trepidation. People can read, but choose not to. Therefore they read poorly, don't enjoy reading, and don't value reading or pass it on to their own children. This concerns me. While I disagree that reading=books as Herring states, I think it is important for people to value reading for many reasons. Reading, like math, involves training your brain. Training your brain allows you to think, both critically and creatively. Reading involves imagining the words as pictures, which requires a large portion of your brain to be engaged. Why do you think your heart rate is higher than your resting rate when you read? The most frightening thing that Herring has said so far in the book, is that because people don't read, they are losing the ability to think critically and to evaluate sources for accuracy, authenticity, and bias. He claims, and I have seen anecdotal evidence of this, that people are willing to swallow anything, as long as it comes from an online source. They will cry foul if they see ridiculous assertions in print, and those books will not be purchased, either for homes or libraries. However, online ridiculousness has a large and credulous audience for any and every outrageous statement. Something that would never be accepted in a book is taken by some to be fact simply because it resides online.

I'm scared...

Next post--so what do we do about it?