The Future of the "Book Arts" in the Digital Age

"As the digital and the electronic age progresses, people become more interested in spending some of their time away from the screen." — Marnie Powers-Torrey

For some time now, we've been hearing about the "death of books," the "death of print," and the like. Well, here's an interesting piece I came across today that deals with one aspect of the book world that people don't talk about too much when they flap about the demise of books (be it real or imagined) -- the so called "book arts."

The following is an interview with Marnie Powers-Torrey, managing director of the Book Arts Program at the University of Utah (purportedly the only such program in the Inter-Mountain West), and while the digital cheerleaders out there may poo-poo such a discipline as the last vestiges of a soon-to-be-bygone era, Ms. Torrey makes an interesting case for how book arts "offers a bridge between disciplines."

Admittedly, some of this interview gets into the nuts and bolts of the academic program at the U of U, which might not be of much use to some readers. Nevertheless, Ms. Torrey makes some good points about physical books that lovers of the medium (myself included) will find most pleasing. For example:

"...people want to interact with a physical book when it’s convenient to do so. It’s a more enjoyable experience, and it celebrates humanity in a way that interacting with an electronic device won’t ever."

You go, Ms. Torrey.