Library Preserving publishing and promoting sustainability
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tree stumps[/caption]
In the modern age, the norm is that consumers can get what they want, when they want it. Whether one drives to the store or clicks a button on the computer, most goods are available almost instantaneously. Mass production and rapid turnout is all a result of the supply and demand model in which consumers are the catalyst behind the rate of demand. We grumble when our package takes too long to arrive at our front porch, and we let out a sigh of frustration when the store shelf is empty of our favorite snack. But what if you knew something that you wanted was in the works, but would not be available until after your lifetime?
A new book project is being developed, yet no one will see the fruits of its labor until 2114. That is right, just under one hundred years from now. The project was created by artist Katie Paterson who entitled it Future Library. The idea of the project is that one hundred books written between now and 2114 will be released all at the same time in 2114 in limited, printed copies. The books will be published on paper made from Norwegian spruce trees, which were planted near Oslo last year to be ready for use when the times comes. Paterson hopes to combine the tradition of printed books with the idea of connecting with nature.
Peering one hundred years into the future, the prevalence of the traditional library does not even register in most day-dreamers’ minds. Many assume that libraries of books will exist online, and any novelty of going into a real book store will be replaced with a computer lab type of feel. The books that will be featured in this project will carry on the legacy of written stories and will be on display in the new Oslo Library that is set to open in 2019. There will be a reading room with the original manuscripts of all one hundred works. It will allow future citizens to take a step back in time and realize the rich tradition of the physical book.
For Paterson, this project serves as preservation of physical stories and a display of the interconnectedness of the world around us. “The idea to grow trees to print books arose for me through making a connection with tree rings to chapters — the material nature of paper, pulp and books, and imagining the writer’s thoughts infusing themselves, ‘becoming’ the trees,” said Patersonhttp://www.cio.com.au/article/578236/print-publishing-finally-meets-21st-century-predictive-analytics/. “Almost as if the trees absorb the writer’s words like air or water, and the tree rings become chapters, spaced out over the years to come.”
Through the Future Library, the current generation will be contributing to a monumental project that will impact a generation not yet born. As stories are written and the trees begin to grow toward the sky, an important lesson will be harvested for those to come: the importance of the preservation of our physical word and our culture.
Fittingly enough, the reading room in the Oslo Library that will house the original manuscripts will be constructed out of surrounding trees in the forest planted for the printing of the books. The wood will remain natural, and the scent of the outdoors will linger in the room. The goal is to bring important aspects of life together for history to see. The need for stories and tales will outlive even the most rampant advances in technology. This project will show the world that our roots of connectedness with nature and the inherent need for communication will always far exceed the importance of instant gratification.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/10/future-library_n_7532012.html
