They sit on my bookshelf, alone and neglected. Once they were highly valued, a world of information. They are my beautiful set of World Book Encyclopedias, and, they are as out-dated as the dinosaurs.
The fault lies with the Internet. Why go to the trouble of opening a book, shuffling through alphabetically, and coming upon the information needed which is probably too old to be of any use any more, when I can go to the computer, type anything I want to know in the search bar, and, presto! There is my answer in a few seconds.
I worked hard to get this set of World Book, Childcraft, the Cyclo-Teacher, the Dictionaries, and the atlas. Once, I used them but now, technology has taken their place and they are no longer relevant. Sad!
I have two sets of Childcraft and the older set is my favorite. It has those wonderful old poems and nursery rhymes, the fables and children’s stories that have been around for centuries. Sometimes I open one of those old Childcraft books and re-read, just for the fun of it.
Many other things have gone the way of the dinosaurs, things I used to take for granted, things that slipped out of use so slowly that I didn’t realize they had gone until one day I wondered why no one used cursive writing any more? Or, why isn’t shorthand being taught in schools? Or home economics? These were all big things in school once upon a time.
I have a sneaking fear that perhaps, some day people may be obsolete. I hear about robots doing our work for us, performing operations, driving cars, providing companionship. A trickle of fear runs down my spine. Are these warning signs? Will I, one day, sit alone on a dusty shelf somewhere, watching a modern, mechanized world whirr and click and fly right past me? I emphasize with World Book and the poor old dinosaurs.
I know what you mean! I have plenty of reference books that I haven’t looked at in ages. I’ll be donating them to our local library for them to decide what to do with them!