LAUREL CAHOON / Scroll
With all the new advances in technology that are being made, will books become a thing of the past?

Martin Raish, the director of the David O. McKay Library, said that one of the reasons we have books is for the purpose of retaining information for future generations.

“That’s why writing exists. It transcends time and space. If there are no written documents, then we have to rely on our memory, and this goes bad, believe me,” Raish said.

With the current technological advances, some students may feel that books are being replaced by more convenient methods of obtaining information.

“Technology is more [of] the focus today rather than history and learning from those who have already experienced life. I think that books are very important. [However], they are not stressed enough. Books are not used enough among our generation,” said Quinn Jones, a sophomore from Rigby, Idaho.

Although some students believe that books receive little attention, others feel that there are benefits to be gained from reading that cannot be found anywhere else.

“It’s relaxing. It helps you expand your imagination and think about things a little more, and use your brain,” said Andy Roundy, a junior from Kanab, Utah.

Raish said that thetechnological advances have made the younger generation accustomed to learning from Web sites rather than from books.

“You were raised in a visual environment. You were trained in infancy to learn in short bursts. Everything is instant. There is no room for solitude anymore. You are constantly immersed in media all of the time, whether you know it or not,” Raish said.

Just as DVDs and CDs have replaced many VCRs and cassettes, some students wonder if books will ever be replaced by newer, quicker ways of getting information.

“Your children probably won’t give a bean [about books]. And your children’s children probably won’t know what one is. Why bother to have all of these books if no one is using them? I often ask myself that question,” Raish said.