Against the Grain

Volume 28 | Issue 2 Article 12

2016 The eD ath of a Bookworm: A Long-Winded Eulogy Mark Sandler Novel Solutions Consulting, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/atg Part of the Library and Information Science Commons

Recommended Citation Sandler, Mark (2018) "The eD ath of a Bookworm: A Long-Winded Eulogy," Against the Grain: Vol. 28: Iss. 2, Article 12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7771/2380-176X.7311

This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. The Death of a Bookworm: A Long-Winded Eulogy by Mark Sandler (Novel Solutions Consulting)

rognosticating about the future of the To the point of the question underlying these atoms of our created social world are smashing book is somewhat akin to taping a “kick thematic essays — “Do books have a future” and crashing about in our cultural accelerator Pme” sign onto one’s own back; it’s an — I feel on safe ground answering, “totally.” — who or what will survive and emerge victo- open invitation to be ridiculed and abused. I’m told a lot of people — especially smart rious is anyone’s guess. Thirty years from now, Google surfaces dozens of Web (“click-bait”) people — like books, enjoy reading, and have Google may control the entirety of the scholarly and magazine articles that recount the worst/ a real emotional connection to that mode of information space — no more Elseviers, Pro- dumbest/most shortsighted predictions of all transmitting information, entertainment, or even Quests, Pearsons, or libraries; conversely, time. Some of the oft-cited examples1 in the emotive sentiments. It sounds to me like a safe by 2050 Google could just as likely be R.I.P. telecommunications sphere include: bet that books will stick around, especially with alongside AskJeeves, AltaVista, Mosaic, and 1876: “This ‘telephone’ has too many supporters like Mark Zuckerberg.2 Yahoo (the walking dead) in a graveyard of shortcomings to be seriously considered “My challenge for 2015 is to read a superseded search firms. as a means of communication.” — new book every other week — with an Back to the Books William Orton, President of Western emphasis on learning about different Union. cultures, beliefs, histories, and technol- Having acknowledged some trepidation ogies…. I’ve found reading books very about predicting the trajectory of books going 1946: “Television won’t be able to forward, I’ll warm to the task by committing hold on to any market it captures after intellectually fulfilling. Books allow you to fully explore a topic and immerse some column inches to a recapitulation of the the first six months. People will soon book’s centrality over centuries past. Consider get tired of staring at a plywood box yourself in a deeper way than most media today. I’m looking forward to how a 17th-century genius like Isaac Newton, every night.” — Darryl Zanuck, 20th working, as he was in Cambridge England, Century Fox. shifting more of my media diet towards reading books.” might make a connection with contemporary 2007: “There’s no chance that the scholars like G. W. Leibniz in Germany or iPhone is going to get any significant That’s pretty high praise from a Millennial Blaise Pascal in France. When Newton’s market share.” — Steve Ballmer, with better than average tech skills. Books Principia Mathematica was published in 1687, Microsoft CEO. have been front and center in world culture there were no telegraph lines nor telephones; A personal favorite of mine from for the past 500 years, and it is highly likely no trains, planes, or automobiles; no film clips the music industry is Decca Records’ that that “booklike objects” will continue nor photographs to “pin”; no radio or television; rejection of the Beatles after the to live amongst us — both the old, extant and no email, social media, or Internet to facil- group’s 1962 audition, saying, books and newly written/produced books itate real time communications. And yet, these “guitar groups are on the way out” — for the next 500 years. The harder call distant scholars became aware of each other and and “The Beatles have no future in is whether we expect they’ll remain, as shared ideas through the miracle of the printed show business.” they have been in the past, “front and book. Since face-to-face connections among center” in our education systems and All this to say that soothsaying contemporary scholars were made scarce by the leisure pursuits. Is it reasonable to expect inconvenience — even perils — of 17th-century about books — or anything else — to predict — that books will maintain a — should be approached with trep- travel, and letter writing does not scale, it fell to privileged position in an increasingly cluttered the book to serve as the primary conveyance of idation. Who wants to go down in landscape of infotainment options? history as having said that modern intellectual life. Moreover, the limited options day kids wouldn’t waste two weeks of their lives Disclaimers for sharing ideas among contemporaneous reading about wizards, vampires, or dystopian Before wading into the uncertain waters scholars were fewer still for sharing ideas death matches? swirling about this question of the fate of books, across generations. If not for the book, how it should be noted that nothing clouds the vision could 18th-century American intellectuals like of a so-called expert like an emotional or fidu- Jefferson or Franklin contemplate the work of ciary interest in a particular outcome. What Locke and Hobbes who lived a century earlier do the Koch brothers think about the future of and an ocean away? So, for centuries, the book the electric car? What does the Walton family stood as the primary — if not the only — reliable What’s Next for Academic Publishing? think about the prospects for the shop local means for conveying intellectual ideas across from page 24 movement? Be assured that the Kochs know time and space. more about energy production, and the Waltons Accordingly, the book, as a very partic- limited library funds, this will be as essential for know more about retail, than those of us writing ular technology for transmitting knowledge, the future of books as the Gutenberg printing or reading this article. Nonetheless, we should opinions, beliefs,3 etc., became the tangible press once was. remain skeptical about the analyses of those with manifestation of the idea of “smart.” Both But is a disaggregated book still a book? a vested interest in one or another vision of the authors and readers would be deemed “smart” Will the scholarly book only survive if it future. And, for that reason, readers here should by virtue of their connection to books. Check becomes like a journal, consumed, if at all, be forewarned if placing their bets on book your Roget’s for “bookish” and you’ll find the by the chapter? Traditional fans of the book futures based on the predictions of publishers, synonyms “smart,” “brainy,” and “intelligent.” need not be alarmed. On the surface much librarians, aggregators, book jobbers, or other To own books, and better still to read them, has might remain the same, with physical books “experts with benefits.” stood for centuries as a status marker by which still being the preferred “long-form” format for Our second disclaimer is a more general note we measure intellect and competence. Austen’s HSS scholars to delineate complex arguments, about how large social, cultural, or technological Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice proclaimed that collate and analyse empirical evidence, and shifts are perceived (or not), understood (or not), her attraction to Darcy began with excitement develop innovative methodological and the- and ultimately accepted (or not). The march of about the size and richness of his library (be oretical insights. But alongside this familiar history is not an orderly procession from then that literal or figurative). There are numerous territory, there is a quiet revolution happening to now; it is, instead, a circuitous, ambling, references in literature — fiction, non-fiction, beneath the surface in a digital sphere where unpredictable journey with pushing and shoving advice books, etc. — about judging men (and much publishing activity will be guided and among competing people, ideas, systems, and sometimes women) by the books with which influenced by a forensic analysis of incredibly technologies. Thesis and antithesis; culture they associate. All this to say that for a very long detailed, albeit inherently imperfect, data. and counter-culture; action and reaction — the continued on page 27 26 Against the Grain / April 2016 is to replicate the experiences — and reading for the purpose of exchanging information — The Death of a Bookworm lists — of their elders. Ergo, if Adler and his will recede as a norm and value in years to come. from page 26 forebears read Homer in their formative years, By recede, I don’t mean be purged from the face so too should the current wave of 18 year olds. of the earth. The scholarly monograph will not time books have been associated with high social Ignoring, for now, the inherent racism, sex- disappear, but it will become less consequential status, respect, success and leadership. ism, jingoism, and classism of the Great Books as other means of conveying knowledge gain This equivalence of “books” and “smart,” curriculum, my concern here is with the general traction. Most of you are probably saying, or “books” and “education” may go a long way lack of currency inherent in book culture. It “duh,” hasn’t this already happened? And the to explaining society’s longstanding love affair goes without saying that time invested in read- answer here is likely to be “yes,” but, as was with the book. It’s not necessarily the book ing Homer, Aristotle, Virgil, and Augustine stated earlier, there are lots of messy conflicting that people crave but the esteem that its readers might not be the best preparation for success data about such things, and many bookish ana- garner from their peers. If I were to say to a in Silicon Valley (“street smarts” for the mean lysts and experts continue to aver that the book group of friends that I just finished readingThe streets of Palo Alto). And it’s not just that I’m is irreplaceable as a mode of scholarly commu- Kite Runner, I would expect their reaction to be bothered by too much curriculum focus on the nication. Those who argue that book culture is different than had I said that I watched 87 hours ancients; I question, as well, the “datedness” of alive and well might point to the 27% increase of television last week. As a pseudo-academ- a reading list based on this week’s New York in U.S. independent bookstores between 2009 5 ic, I might try to sneak the former into casual Times non-fiction best-seller list. Books are a and 2014; a general upward trend in output to conversation — or this article — while opting great technology for storing and transmitting old over 300,000 U.S. books in 2013 and 2.2 million 6 not to reveal the latter. To this same end, we thoughts — those of Aristotle or those of Bill worldwide; Amazon investing in bricks and 7 should take note of the pervasive cultural habits O’Reilly — but are a notably slow technology mortar bookstores; and 78% of Americans of accumulating and displaying books in public for a society with the capacity for lightning-fast responding that “libraries are effective at pro- 8 spaces and in our homes; or using books as a communication. A “current” printed book is moting literacy and love of reading.” backdrop for politicians or presumed “experts” most likely to suffer from a two-year time-lag But, as with any complex cultural trend, each being interviewed on TV or otherwise depicted as it is shipped from the publisher, including of these seemingly positive data points can be in visual media; and the value that universities the time the idea of the book is conceived, countered with evidence to the contrary. The Bu- place on an acquisitive library. In a simple shopped, researched, analyzed, written, edited, reau of Labor Statistics reports that, on average, syllogism, books convey knowledge; I have produced, marketed, and sold. Add to that the Americans commit 2 hours and 49 minutes of books, therefore I am knowledgeable. The time it takes a reader to identify, acquire, and their daily leisure to watching television, as com- question before us now, though, is whether read a so-called “contemporary” book, and we pared with 19 minutes of reading (4.2 minutes for some other channel of communication might might timorously suggest that books are no those aged 15-19 as compared with 52 minutes of overtake the book as the primary cultural symbol longer the best technology for shedding light “using the computer for fun”);9 a 30% decline in of “knowledgeable.” on contemporary issues. bookstore sales between 2008 and 2014;10 24% The Exalted Tradition of Books of American adults surveyed in 2013 said they On Writers and Readers had not read a book in the previous year (the While a connection to books has for centu- Before delving deeper into book authorship typical American reporting — perhaps honestly ries conferred the presumption of intelligence on and readership, let’s agree to limit our focus or accurately — that they read 5 books);11 and individuals and societies, there is an interesting hereafter to works of non-fiction — largely trade only 46% of adults reported visiting their public dichotomy that began to be floated in the early books and educational texts. I remain optimistic library in the previous year.12 to mid-1970s between so-called “book smarts” about the future of pleasure reading, primarily, and “street smarts,” the latter usually thought to although not exclusively, focused upon works of So Many Books; So Little Time trump the former. This dichotomy is largely at fiction. While there are now many leisure alterna- With book output having more than doubled odds with various educational philosophies built tives to book-length reading, I have a hard time between 2004 and 2014, it is not surprising around students reading the canon of great west- accepting that immersion in a well-crafted story that more books than ever are going begging. ern books, the majority of which (about 75% of More people than ever — including academics 4 won’t hold its own when weighed against other Mortimer Adler’s 1990 list ) were published pursuits. The electronic media revolution has al- (broadly defined) — are writing books, and before the 20th century (and many before the ready taken — and will continue to take — a toll fewer people than ever — including academics first millennium). The Great Books curriculum on the prevalence of pleasure reading, but there (broadly defined) — are reading them. On the skews decidedly to the classics — the Greeks, are unique joys that come from engaging over one hand, we could argue that an unread book the Romans, medieval religious tracts, Shake- days and weeks with an exciting, complicated, is no book at all, in the way that an unanswered speare, authors of the Enlightenment, etc. — heart-warming, or provocative novel. telephone call does not constitute a conversa- reflecting the historicism of western education. tion. Communication — scholarly or otherwise This western reverence for early contributions But, pleasure reading aside, what to think — implies a connection. If we don’t have a to scholarship is typical of traditional societies about the prospects for non-fiction books that are speaker AND listener, or a writer AND reader, that emphasize behavioral norms reinforced by produced with an intention to educate or edify? we’re simply left with solipsistic thought that is “the collective memory” fixed in printed books. Readers of non-fiction are more likely to apply functionally unconsummated. a pragmatic standard when deciding upon the Tradition-based societies and institutions (the Oscar Wilde once wrote that, “[I]n old days best way to educate themselves. What is this the church, higher education, politics) rely upon books were written by men of letters and read by fastest, easiest, most convenient, most reliable, ritual, lionizing founders and ancestors, and the public. Nowadays books are written by the most timely way to get to needed information, glorifying so-called sacred texts as three iconic public and read by nobody.”13 While that was be that a specific fact or a theoretical context for pillars that bolster allegedly “timeless” values written in 1894 when U.S. book output was less connecting related facts? For 500 years, give or and a conservative worldview; an anachronistic than 10,000 books per year; it is more apt than take, the answer was likely to be, “read a book.” worldview touted as relevant for addressing ever today. In the current environment, the big- The book was the mainstay and gold standard for the challenges of contemporary life. There are gest threat to the book is the overproduction of communicating facts and ideas across time and clearly other ways to build societal systems of books. It is the “tragedy of the commons,” or the space. As such, it served society extremely well action — and tradition-based ideologies have peril of starvation that is visited upon a healthy in fueling progress in all walks of life. With the faced challenges throughout history (e.g., the or actively reproducing herd. Sooner or later, advent of modern telecommunications, however, Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, the individual sheep are put at risk by the appetites can the book — should the book — maintain its Sixties) — but there is a certain simplicity to of others in an accreting herd, and ultimately pre-eminent position as the most esteemed mode replicating or reproducing ideas from an earlier the survival of the species can be imperiled by of scholarly communication and a culturally age with the hope they might produce desired the sum of so many individual appetites. An celebrated symbol of an educated person? outcomes in modern times. Likewise, there is imbalance in the scholarly ecosystem between a certain simplicity or appeal to assuming that My thesis here is that scholarly book culture authors and readers — i.e., producers and the best way to educate a younger generation — the idea of people writing and reading books continued on page 28 Against the Grain / April 2016 27 tunity — in theory or reality — to control the For these and other reasons, I believe The Death of a Bookworm number of books flowing through the burgeon- scholars will continue to drift from a reliance from page 27 ing self-publishing sector or to influence any on books to more accommodating modes for of a number of alternative modes of scholarly accessing needed content. It is undeniable that consumers — should ultimately cull the herd communication supported by telecommuni- some scholars, on some occasions, need to of books, reducing output to the capacity of the cations, time-based and social media. The consume an in-depth, thoroughly researched, environment to absorb content. book publishers will no doubt argue that their thoughtful and edited treatment of a topic of This need to balance the supply and demand vetting process — especially when academic considerable interest. That, however, seems for books was as true in Wilde’s time as it is peer review is involved — provides a level of to be the exception rather than the rule. Most today; books and journals compete with other assurance about accuracy that provides value students or scholars writing a term paper or ar- books and journals for the attention of readers. well beyond that offered in newer commu- ticle; preparing a course lecture or conference What’s different now, however, is that we’re not nication channels. They might also argue presentation; writing a blog comment, book dealing with a more or less homogeneous body — without much evidence — that the slower, review or email; peer-reviewing an article; of content — a herd of books, of sorts — that more immersive process of long-form reading etc., are likely to find what they need in a series is collectively trying to adapt to its environment. facilitates deeper learning. On the other side of longer or shorter Web snippets, which does Instead, there is a flood of new and rapacious of the ledger, the arguments favoring the intro- not bode well for the future of the scholarly predators descending upon our academic pas- duction of media based communications in all monograph. tures and competing for sustenance with books corners of the academy are so numerous that and journals at an undersized trough of campus we don’t have the time and space to enumer- attention. Scholars and students can now graze ate them here…and so compelling that there for information from a multiplicity of sources should really be no need. Endnotes — e.g., PBS, NPR, documentaries, Ted Talks, For academic libraries, it is also decision 1. Szczerba, Robert, Forbes/Tech, Jan. 5, Blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Vine, Pinterest, Wiki- time; do they double down on their longstanding 2015 (http://tinyurl.com/j487t6c) pedia, Webinars, Facebook, Reddit — that are, association with the book — hanging more and 2. Zuckerberg, Mark, Facebook post, January 2, 2015. in many cases, faster, cheaper, easier to access, more celebrity posters that implore youngsters more fun and more current than the traditional to read — or do they act decisively to diversify 3. I’m ignoring here that the three best-sell- scholarly monograph. So, books are fighting for ing books of all time — the Bible, the Quran, their portfolio and support a much broader array and Quotations from Chairman Mao, likely survival on two fronts: 1) an internecine com- of communication channels? Does YouTube have a purpose and social impact that differs petition among the glut of books themselves; include content that might be instructive to stu- from most books — fiction or non-fiction. and 2) a competition to maintain primacy or dents in an introductory anthropology class? If Society is less likely to apply the word standing when compared with other conduits so, should not the campus library be vetting the “smart” to readers, including obsessive, of scholarly information. best of that video content and creating conve- repetitive readers of these works, and more nient links to it? Likewise, should the library be likely to apply notions like “devout” or So, Therefore… “faithful.” While not negative terms in and What does all this mean for authors, pub- working with campus faculty to surface useful of themselves, it is not clear that reading the lishers, and librarians? Academic authors podcasts, credible blogs, photographic images, Bible on an airplane is perceived by other will no doubt continue writing books because curriculum relevant twitter accounts, or other passengers in the same way one might react available tools make research and writing vehicles for transmitting quality scholarly con- to a traveler reading War and Peace. easier than ever, and institutional rewards tent? Is there any doubt that nearly all students, 4. Adler, Mortimer, ed., Great Books of and the great majority of faculty, spend the the Western World, 2nd ed., Encyclopedia continue to incentivize publication, even when Britannica, Inc., 1990. the resulting work finds no market or readers. bulk of their working and leisure hours online? Libraries should be thinking about how best 5. Heyman, Stephen, “Assessing the Health Were it the case — and it is unlikely to be — of Independent Bookstores,” New York that promotion and tenure committees were to to interact with their constituents in the places they frequent, and how to organize, validate and Times, Feb. 25, 2015. decide that books without readers should not 6. International Publishers Association, entitle their authors to additional benefits, these preserve the varied forms of scholarly content that can be found there. It should be clear that “Annual Report: October 2013 to October authors would still draw their base salaries and 2014,” p.16. the value proposition for libraries has shifted begin researching their next works. Writing a 7. Rao, Leena, “Amazon Considers Open- book is respected work in the academy, and not from acquiring and preserving once scarcely ing Hundreds of Bookstores,” Fortune, really unpleasant activity for authors to pursue, accessible books, to helping users navigate the Feb. 2, 2016. so academics will likely continue to produce broad array of information options available to 8. Horrigan, John, “Libraries at the Cross- books until failed writing (as in failed to attract today’s students and scholars. roads: Pew Research Center,” September an audience) is somehow penalized. The Tragic Last Act 2015. Scholarly publishers of all stripes — commer- 9. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “American S. R. Ranganathan, one of the patron saints Time Use Survey,” Oct. 26, 2015 (available cial, university presses, commercially oriented of librarianship, famously wrote, “Every book at: http://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/leisure. university presses, library publishers, etc. — are its reader.” Whatever that was intended to mean htm) 14 more likely than authors to try to regulate industry in 1931, it’s pretty clear that it makes little 10. Statista, “Sales of book store retail production to decrease the risks that are attendant sense in today’s environment. Books are easily in the United States from 2008 to 2020,” with oversupply (think OPEC). While cooper- published, discoverable and accessible world- 2016, (available at: http://www.statista.com/ ation to manage supply is a rational response to wide, relatively inexpensive, and yet struggling forecasts/409658/united-states-book-store- market imbalance, individual producers do not to find readers. I believe the reasons for this retail-sales-forecast-naics-451211) always act rationally, nor do they trust others are many and varied, but a few of the gremlins 11. Pew Research Center, “E-Reading Rises to do so. Putting aside the legal questions of inherent in the technology can be noted: as Device Ownership Jumps,” January 2014. whether publishers should be allowed to “co- • Books are long, and slow to digest 12. Horrigan, Ibid. operate,” “collude,” or “conspire” to regulate or 13. Wilde, Oscar, “A Few Maxims for the • In their print form, it can be hard to restrict the supply of published books, students Instruction of the Over-Educated,” Saturday know in advance if specific reader of game theory would tell us how difficult it is Review, November 17, 1894, and reprinted needs will be satisfied to optimize mutual benefits for a group by each in The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: • They lack currency Stories, Plays, Poems & Essays, New York: individual actor accepting a limited degree of Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008, personal sacrifice. It may be rational economic • They are not interactive pp.1203-04. behavior, but it is unlikely to come to fruition. • The preferred standard of presenta- 14. Ranganathan, S.R., The Five Laws of While more traditional trade publishers tion — for scholarly treatises — tilts Library Science, London: Edward Goldston, could theoretically agree to limit the number of to the ponderous 1931. books they publish, they have no such oppor- • My friends didn’t read it 28 Against the Grain / April 2016