The Contemporary Connection

         I can see a contemporary connection between today and the years of 1865-1914 in the aspect of education, specifically with reading.  The book states that, “following the Civil War was the surge in reading, which was encouraged by the growing number of libraries in the United States” (23).  I believe that the same is true, but in a different way today.  There has been a push for literacy and reading for a long time in schools, but the use of technology for reading has increased in today’s time.  During 1865-1914, people could walk to libraries and get books and the convenient factor was something that helped promote reading like never before.  People had easy access to books for the first time, which was revolutionary.  Now, I believe that the same is true, but it looks a lot different because of the advances in technology.  It is somewhat rare for people to go to the library and check out books in today’s time because of all the other options that are available.  For instance, with the use of the Nook, Kindle, and iPad alone, reading has increased because of the accessibility.  It is so much more accessible to people, a person can download a book in less than a minute and have it accessible.  The fact that technology is so portable and compact these days encourages people to have these devices on hand and it also encourages reading.  It is amazing how far technology has come and a blessing that technology can be used to further reading and education in this world.

         Another aspect of education that is mentioned in the book is the increasing number of women going to school and college during 1865-1914.  The same is held true today and it is especially noticeable at TCU where the girl to guy ratio my freshman year was three to one.  It is encouraging to see so many women going to college.  It seems crazy that this was not normal during that time.  This shows just how far education and women’s rights have come since the time period between 1865 and now.