No need to go there

A new discrimination is developing—elimination of information services for those who enjoy reading and savoring the printed page, who find Internet resources great for quick answers, but who have no desire for extended reading of electronic pages.

Our local libraries sustained us for years with their incredible fiction and nonfiction print collections. Browsing the shelves was a serendipitous experience, eliciting joy with each new discovery. Today ephemeral digital collections rapidly replace printed books. Favorite titles disappear as libraries discard or sell their printed materials at ever-increasing rates.

After 200 years of print publication, even our local newspaper has gone digital. The electronic tablet that came with the new subscription was helpful, but the assumption that all have access to Wi-Fi was not. The suggestion that Internet access charges could be eliminated by visiting a Wi-Fi site every morning to download the newspaper was not practical, nor were the additional costs per year to pay for online access.

Our final refuge was the national chain bookstore near us, but it began selling more toys and purchasing fewer books, driving us to search out printed materials from online sources or from more remote secondhand or privately owned bookstores.

I confess to being a digital minimalist who likes to use the Internet, but only for specific purposes … never for reading books, magazines, or newspapers. There is a blank hole in each day which once the newspaper filled. I miss the weekly visits to libraries and nearby bookstores, and feel bereft that there is no longer a need to go there. HOPE SHASTRI North Little Rock