The reason is that till date in spite of advances in information technology and strategies of information the written word in the form of books still remains one of humanity's most enduring legacies.
A concerted effort to preserve our heritage is a vital link to our cultural educational aesthetic inspirational and economic legacies - all of the things that quite literally make us who we are.
Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind which are delivered down from generation to generation as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn.
To state the facts frankly is not to despair the future nor indict the past. The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies and gives a faithful accounting to those whom he owes an obligation of trust.
These days newish art can be priced between $10 000 and $25 000. When I tell artists that a new painting by a newish artist should go for around $1 200 they look at me like I'm a flesh-eating virus.