I can’t help but feel overwhelmed having to write everything I have learned this semester in just one blog post. There is so much to discuss, I don’t even know where to start. This class was truly so unique in that it wasn’t just about books; it was also about the digital. It wasn’t just about the old, but was about the new. It was about so many elements that had to do with publishing, book binding, writing, reading, the past, and even the future. For a class about books, it wasn’t about reading but about the books themselves. Books are physical, cultural objects with a body you can read, not just storage containers for text. These objects are companions, part of collections, and commodities. Books are so many things all at once.

The idea of “bookishness” as a response to a culture in transition explains the phenomenon of book collectors and physical media collectors in the digital age. This class touched a lot on digital history and how quickly new technologies have changed our world. Amazon started as a bookstore, gained trust from the public, and became a place where you can buy anything. Just like how screens have interfaces, books contain interfaces too, which can be read and interpreted the same way texts can. These interfaces make you feel something, which causes the digital world to take inspiration from the book interface by making Kindle and laptop screens white with pages you can turn. Subtle things like having a “home” button and a background containing a sunny field create feelings of comfort, pushing a safe feeling when using these foreign devices.

Archives were also a big topic in this class, and how there are still so many unread stories in the archives all over the world. These historical papers are also looked through by people who either deem them important or unimportant, leading to the question: how does somebody get that much power to shape our history?

In all, I could go on and on about everything I’ve learned in this class and how I am a much better person for it. Just like how books are not one thing, this class is not one thing. This class was about culture, society, and history. To look at the future, you must look at the past, and that is exactly what we did. We saw how the new was inspired by the old, and that we wouldn’t have any new without the old. This was a media studies class, a book binding class, and an archives class all in one. The information I have learned in this class has reshaped how I view media and history. I am leaving this class changed and inspired. Thank you.