What, no books in the schools?

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

I was reading online recently about a boarding school in New England that has gotten rid of most of the books in their library and replaced them with electronic devices called "Kindles" that are like computerized books. Amazon.com sells the Kindles and the books which can be downloaded to the devices and then read. Amazon has about 366,000 titles at the moment and their library is growing.

This made me think about the Bible. I have 2 electronic versions of the bible loaded onto my Ipod and I used them at church and at bible study. It's much easier to carry the Ipod around than lugging a big book. When doing actual study time I use an online site called biblegateway.com to do research because I can check the verse in every version without much trouble.

I find the electronic devices easier to read than a book because as I have gotten older the eyesight has deteriorated quite a bit. I like the backlit screens that are easier to see and being able to increase the font size helps immensely. Much easier than squinting at a page. But yet... when I am sitting at home and I just want to experience the comfort of read the bible, I am still much more likely to pull out the old bible I started with in College (the one with the highlighted pages, with notes written all around the borders...) You know the one, you probably have one just like it at home. There is just something about actually holding and looking at the real bible when you just want to soak in God's word.

I am a true computer geek, but yet I worry about taking the books out of the schools and the libraries. I can't imagine what it would be like if children never picked up a real book to read. No flipping the pages. No feeling the weight of a good story. Not even the sound of the book hitting the desk to get someone's attention. (Though I imagine if you drop a "Kindle" you will get someone's attention.)

If we allow our schools to do away with real books they will be gone forever, even the classics. If this happens we will be dependent on purchasing them from an online company. We will be limited to the "profitable" titles rather than an entire library full of titles. And how will we ever be able to keep up with technology. Technology changes every few years. The books that you download now probably won't work in 5 or 10 years, but that hardback book on your shelf will still be readable. I have heard of family's that have passed Bibles down for generations, even with histories and family trees inside. (Mine was not one of them.) I want to see the books stay on the shelves. I want to see the children reading them. It's got to make you wonder...

Dear Lord, please help my friends and I to teach the young people in our lives the value of reading. Help us to share with them the joy of picking up an old book and just holding it in our hands and reading it page by page. Please help my friends to share the joy of looking through highlighted notes and words of wisdom jotted in the borders of their bibles. That would be totally lost if we had to rely solely on electronic books. Thank you Lord, for providing the word and please help us to protect it and pass it on to the young people in our lives.