The Future of Reading

I am culling out memorable and relevant posts I made in 2006 and 2007 to file them under the BEST of SLIA - an annual compedium of blog posts that, I deem, contain valuable information for me and my readers. But it seems that going over 200 plus posts for two years could not be done in a week. So here is a reprieve from my scouring -- an editorial by Shiela Williams on Harry Potter and the Future of Reading.

In the article, Williams mentioned of a lovely librarian (envy! envy! envy!) who accepted the Hugo Award on behalf of JK Rowling. Why would a librarian, and take note that she was described as lovely (images of loveliness come to mind- no thick intimidating glasses; gone are the dagger like stares; hair in a bun? go away!), accept the Hugo for JK Rowling? Ah. I am inundated by so many assumptions. But, I must say that I'm contented to think that indeed, librarians are not mere custodians of books. See, they attend events like book awards and book launchings where their presence is very much appreciated. Librarians do have a role on everything books and reading and not just the keeping of such.

The most thrilling bit of information I got from Williams' editorial though, is her belief that the printed word will never die. And proof of this is the phenomenal reception of kids and adults to JK Rowling's seventh Harry Potter. If you think otherwise, I challenge you to shrug off your snottiness on the HP books and read it.