America's Death March Toward Illiteracy
Snip:
People who read books are different from other people. They're smarter for one thing. They're more sensual for another. They like to hold, touch and smell what they read. They like to carry the words around with them -- tote them on vacation, take them on train rides and then, most heavenly of all, to bed.

They're also a dying breed. And newspapers, apparent signatories to a suicide pact, are playing "Taps."

The news that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has eliminated its book-editor position -- causing much Sturm und Drang throughout the Southern literary community -- highlights the continuing demotion of books and literature in American culture. While an Internet petition circulates to reinstate Teresa Weaver as book editor, writers are expressing concern that they're losing their best vehicle for recognition.

What do you think?  Are readers a dying breed?  And if so, what does this mean for libraries, considering most people think of books when they think of us?

Worth reading & thinking about.