Book Burning In Kansas City

Last Sunday, there was a book burning in Kansas City, Missouri. But this was not your typical book burning. No one was trying to ban any kind of book. In fact, this was just the opposite. This was a protest over the fact that fewer and fewer people read books these days.

The book-burner, Tom Wayne, has owned a bookstore in Kansas City for the last 10 years (Prospero Books). He said he has been seeing fewer customers in the last few years because many people now get all their information from cable TV and the internet. He pointed to a 2002 study by the National Endowment for the Arts that showed less than 50% of our population read for pleasure.

Wayne said he had amassed over 20,000 books and needed to thin out his collection. He offered these books to libraries and thrift shops for free, but they all turned him down saying they had all the books they could handle.

Since he couldn't even give them away, he came up with the idea of a book burning. The Fire Department stopped him because he didn't have a permit, but Wayne says he will get a permit and try it again.

I also love the internet and TV, but nothing can beat the pure pleasure of reading a good book. But I'm an older guy and grew up before cable TV or the internet. Books were my friends and I grew up loving to read. I have tried to instill that in my children. At X-mas and birthdays, they could always count on the fact that one of their gifts would be one or more books, and they came to look forward to them.

But most parents don't do that nowdays. I'm afraid that we're currently creating a generation of non-readers. This is sad. Books are not only a great source of pleasure, but are educational - no matter what is read. TV and the internet are great, but should be combined with books for a truly well-rounded education.