Are bookshelves and bookends becoming endangered species?

A few weeks ago, while listening to CBC Radio 3 online, I came across a blog written by Lana Gay, one of the DJ's. She was talking about an episode of Oprah she saw about e-readers and digital books.

In the comments section below, a lot of people brought up things mentioned in Digital History class when we had our own debate on book digitization and e-readers. The smell, the look of books, the way they feel, and most importantly the price are all factors in why some people said they would choose a good old fashioned paperback over a fancy e-reader. One commenter mentioned how it's much nicer to curl up with a book rather than a miniature computer screen.

Some people defended e-readers and the digitization of books by claiming they were better for the environment. Books kill millions of trees, however, unlike paper, a discarded e-reader (with its metal and plastic) will sit in a landfill forever. People like keeping old books on shelves so they can be re-read or shared with friends and family. Once a new and improved e-reader is introduced the old one will go straight into the garbage.

I believe that bookshelves are an integral part of any house. By examining someone's bookshelf you can immediately deduce what their interests, pastimes, and even hobbies. My dad has a room full of books about science fiction, horses, law, and Canadian History (to name a few genres). A few titles on my sister's bookshelf, including: A Life in Full: Richard Nixon by Conrad Black, My Life by Bill Clinton, and The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan, reveal her interest in American politics and history. A bookshelf also has the ability to make you appear intelligent to others (but my sister is actually pretty smart). If all your books are on an e-reader, no one will be able to physcially see that you have excellent taste in literature.

And don't forget about the cool bookends.