The Author's Post That Brought Back Memories and Gave Me Chills at the Same Time.

“Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue; it is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.”- Benjamin Franklin

One author’s blog I visit daily is Seanan McGuire’s live journal where she posts about her books, life in general and her cats. She also writes these very thought provoking posts that really make you sit back and think. Her latest post, titled, Across the Digital Divide, may be her best one yet and is one post I urge everyone to read.

Seanan starts off talking about poverty and how as of Tuesday, the national poverty rate in the United States is at 15%, meaning around 44 million live in poverty and the poverty level for a family of four is $22,350. 60% of Americans will spend at least one year below the poverty line at some point in their lives.

The reasons Seanan has brought up these shocking numbers, (how in the hell can a family of four, let alone one person live on less than $23,000?!) is because of digital books and the question whether people have access to some sort of ebook reader. If a person is living in poverty, how do they have the funds to purchase an electronic device like a Kindle, Nook, Ereader, Ipad, etc when their money has to go to more substantial things such as food, clothing and shelter? Many can’t afford “extras” like an ereader, let alone other materialistic items. I think most take for granted how lucky they are even with the American economy in the crapper. There’s not one person who I know of who doesn’t have a cell phone, a car or not only one television or computer in their house, but more like two or three. And when I see people on-line say how they not only have just one electronic reading device but four- Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Ipad, my jaw drops. Must be nice for them to have close to $1000 worth of electronic equipment when they could have used that money elsewhere.

This post is not to complain about the Has and Has Nots or keeping up with the Joneses. The basis of Seanan’s post that hit me hard is if the digital publishing revolution continues to rises and print books become obsolete and libraries and schools are continually cut in funding, how do people get their hands on books and educate themselves?

Can you imagine a world without libraries? Libraries have been around for almost 700 years. For some, a library is the only way to get their hands on books and use the resources there to help them better their situation. The library is a place where people can connect with one another and find solace from the harsh world outside.

I come from a lower middle class family. My mother was a catholic school teacher who started out making under $10,000 a year and my father has always worked two jobs. Growing up as a child in the 1980’s and as a teen in the 90’s, my parents made certain my sister and I had a well-rounded life. They made sure we were fed, clothed and had a roof over our heads. They did this while making very low salaries. There was a time where my father was let go from job after job, not because he was a poor worker, but for a time in the 80’s there was a slight recession. My parents almost lost our house, my childhood home my parents still live in today and finally paid off the 30 year mortgage a few years ago through blood, sweat and tears. They worked their asses off to give their two girls as much as they could. But seeing as feeding their children and making sure they were clothed were important, they couldn’t give us “extras” as so many of neighbors had. We didn’t have a VCR until my last year of high school. We had a rotary phone until I went away to college. A computer? My parents didn’t buy one until I was almost out of college and it was dial up! GASP. If we went out to dinner, it was only for holidays or a special occasion. We didn’t wear name brand clothes. We shopped at places like JC Penny’s and a store called Bradley’s that was bought out and became Kohl’s.

I was never given money to buy books. If I wanted to buy something myself, I had to earn it. I’ve been working since I’ve been 13 years old. I started making $1.50 an hour babysitting and then when I was 16, I worked weekends, 8 hours a day at McDonalds making $6 an hour. My weekly check was $80, if even that. I learned it was better to save money than to spend it because of how unstable life could be at any moment, where you never knew if the day you went into work would be your last.

I turned to my town library that since the 1980’s still looks the same. It’s never been renovated and I think the carpeting is from the 1950’s. I can’t even imagine where I would be if I didn’t have my library to go to growing up or even have the option, when I was lucky to have some extra spending money, to go to the bookstore and buy a book. If I was a child or a teenage living now, I don’t know if I would have en electronic reading device or the means to read digital books because there might be a likelihood I wouldn’t buy a reading device because even at the low price of:

$114 for an Amazon Kindle

$250 for a Barnes and Noble Nook

$150 for a Nook

$499 for an Ipad

$150 for a Sony ereader

I might not be able to afford it. For someone who is lucky to be able to buy all 5 of these most popular reading devices, the grand total comes to over $1163, not counting tax. Now if you were making under $23,000 would you buy one, let alone all 5?

I do have a Sony ereader. Want to know why? Because I won it in a contest. If I never did, I might never bought my own. I consider myself lucky I have my own laptop, which has become my life’s blood not only as a book blogger but as a writer. I love my ereader, which I carry around with me at all times, but I also always have at least two print books on my person. If I don’t have print book with me, I feel as if I lost a limb. For some reason I can leave my ereader at home, but I always need a print book on me no matter where I go.

So imagine a world with no libraries or print books. How would those people who can’t afford technological devices get their hands on reading materials? How would their children? Would the government pay for every citizen and their family to have a reading device or computer in their home to make certain have access to digital books? The odds are slim to none.

As an author of digitally released books, it’s a given I want more people to read them, but I also want people to buy and read print books. A book can be such a power tool, it enlightens the mind in so many ways. I’m incredibly lucky because I’m sent a large quantity of books from publishers. From the ones I don’t keep, I end up donating to Lupus. In the past 2 years, I have donated close to a thousand books to that organization.

If I had the means, I would set up a fund for my town library that would be used to purchase a certain amount of books each month. If I had enough money, I would donate to my library to renovate and add more computers and perhaps some sort of classes to help people find jobs or to better themselves socially and mentally.

If I could, I would certainly replace that ugly orange 1950’s rug.

Seanan has said it best:

“We need paper books to endure. Every one of us, if we can log onto this site and look at this entry, is a "have" from the perspective of a kid living in an apartment with cockroaches in the walls and junkies in the unit beneath them. A lot of the time, the arguments about the coming ebook revolution forget that the "have nots" also exist, and that we need to take care of them, even if it means we can't force our technological advancement as fast as we might want to. I need to take care of them, because I was a little girl who only grew up to be me through the narrowest of circumstances...and most of those circumstances were words on paper.

Libraries are losing funding by the day. Schools are having their budgets slashed. Poor kids are getting poorer, and if we don't make those books available to them now, they won't know to want them tomorrow.

We cannot forget the digital divide. And we can't—we just can't—be so excited over something new and shiny that we walk away and knowingly leave people on the other side.

We can't.”