My co-blogger, Stan, has recently published an article with the same title as this post. In a culture where short, quick blurbs pervade our screens, and consumers lose interest in a subject in ten seconds, there is a looming concern about the future of books. Why do we need books? One reason is that book culture provides the continuous line of connection between our present situation and the foundations of civilization. Much of the information that we glean about our human history comes from books and is preserved in books. And it is more likely that we leave our current imprint in future human history through books rather than a ten second reel.

He states: “We have lost sight of the fact that all these expressions of current life, whether good or (unfortunately) bad, are based upon the accumulation of human knowledge, and that means book culture—although I would argue that the negative expressions of it are truncated expressions or even misunderstandings of it.”

Although Stan’s article applies this to the project of DTL (Digital Theological Library), where tens of thousands of books are digitized and accessible, the main point of maintaining book culture is highlighted.

The article can be found here: Stanley E. Porter, “We Must Preserve Books at All Costs,” in Serving Those Called to Serve: Reflections and Insights into the Mission, Theory, and Practice of Theology, ed. Greg Henson and Thomas P. Phillips (Digital Theological Library, 2025), 87–91.

— David I. Yoon