A few times, I have read “The Fun They Had” by Isaac Asimov with my students. In the story, two children marvel over an actual book one discovered in an attic. They don’t attend school anymore and have not ever read a book printed on paper. Instead, they are taught by a personalized robot-computer-teacher. Some of my students laughed it off, calling it far-fetched, but as we know, science fiction often becomes reality. After all, submarines did not exist when Jules Verne wrote 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Books, actual books on paper, may eventually go the way of the VHS tape and DVD. The big hope, of course, is that the publishing business adapts and survives, which means people need to continue to buy reading material and maintain or start a daily reading habit.

This is the idea behind author Sean Cummings’ online campaign called “Save Publishing–Read a Book at Bedtime.” He has established a Facebook page and website. Within a short time, the Facebook page has 900+ fans. Today, he has posted a “Buy the Book: 24 Hours to Save Publishing” event on March 7, which I will also share with you.