Obama's Influence: A (Very Modest) Book Bailout Proposal

I am a total book nerd. I read at least a book every other week. So I was thrilled, although not surprised, to read this recent New York Times article that explores Barack Obama's great passion for books and literature. Like me, Obama regards Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man as one of his favorite novels. Of course, presidents claiming to be avid readers is nothing new. While Bill Clinton was campaigning for president, I recall hearing that he read a book a day.  Last month even Karl Rove bragged about his buddy George W. Bush's prolific book reading prowess. In his opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, he claimed that Bush read 95 books last year to his 110 (naturally, the article met a lot of skepticism).

If presidents love books, it appears as though less Americans are reading and buying books. In 2007 the Washington Post ran an article that claimed one in four Americans read one book that year. It sounds unfathomable, but I can believe it.  I recently attended a book reading by local Bay Area best selling author Ron Hansen, who wrote The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford that was eventually made into a movie starring Brad Pitt. Most people in the audience were in their sixties to eighties; I was the youngest person there. (I felt so young, and I'm middle aged!).  As Obama is surely well aware, the publishing industry has been hurting for some time and even more so during this current economic downturn, and it doesn't look as if it will bounce back any time soon.  Every day you hear of publishers complaining of dwindling sales and having to cut costs or go out of business completely.

So, I have a very modest proposal, one that wouldn't take taxpayer's money, (other than the voluntary cost of a paperback book once in awhile) nor too much of Obama's time:  To use his influence to help persuade Americans to buy more books.  He wouldn't have to do much, maybe a service announcement here and there stressing the importance of books and literature. Perhaps showing up once in awhile at a local bookstore and library (even though first ladies traditionally hold the honor of encouraging more children to read).  Heck, Obama can do for the faltering book market what Oprah did for women's literature and Kindle sales, bring some much-needed revenue to the dying publishers and booksellers.  As everyone knows, currently Obama is the ultimate pop icon politician and he should strike NOW, while his popularity is soaring.

Of course, he would have to careful and not play favorites by endorsing any one publisher or book (especially his own).  But even if our new President doesn't try to play a more active roll in trying to stimulate the book buying market, If nothing else, it's likely in the future we’ll spot a few pictures of Obama walking around with a book in his hand (even presidents faced with the toughest economy in decades need a little downtime, right?)  And, maybe he will help elevate book reading and book buying to a new level of cool. 

At least book lovers such as myself can only hope.

This is an original post to Silicon Valley Moms Blog.  When she isn't busy trying to think of ways to revive the faltering book market, you can also find Lisa on her blog, blog on the wall .

'"Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled "This could change your life."'~Helen Exley

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