It's no secret that reading books is great for your mental and professional development. Everyone says it, even me.
But they are more important than everyone thinks.
It's also not a secret that libraries and bookstores, like Barnes and Noble, are a dying breed due to the age of technology and companies such as Amazon. However, I do have a soft spot for libraries and B&N stores, as I spent a lot of time working and reading in them.
The most important bit for why they are important: Free or reduced price knowledge.
As a business consultant, reading is important for research purposes. If you want to help your clients, you must have an understand of important ways to help their business build or maintain long-term success.
The best part of libraries is that you can rent books on different subjects for a few weeks at a time, however, the selection of books differs from library to library, and you may have to visit a few different locations to find a book that interests you.
With Barnes and Noble, I've been able to read different books in multiple trips as trial runs, but I feel that I would have to buy them to give myself more time with them, but these books would be cheaper than new classes, not to mention that compared to textbooks, they're more accessible and cheaper.
Another plus side is, under normal circumstances, you can get out of the house for a while and do some work on the go, obviously with more time under normal circumstances, but with free rentals from a library, you can take that knoweldge on the go.
Of course, that doesn't mean technology isn't important. Obviously, technology is a vital resource these days, especially in the business realm, but there is a part of me that knows that a mix of both technology and old-fashioned brain power is a great trait to have. If you've seen WALL-E, you know how life can get when you get too attached to a screen.
Remember when I said at libraries and Barnes and Noble, you could spend a lot of time working and reading there? (under normal circumstances, of course) Take your tech with you! Barnes and Noble even has their own version of the Amazon Kindle: The Nook.
I don't know how much longer we're going to have Barnes and Noble or libraries, but the ability to work on the go and read books (or part of them) for a lower cost than textbooks are reasons why these are resources I am willing to tap into as much as possible.
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