The campus bookstore is a familiar sight every semester. Students stand packed in line, their arms crowded with almost more books than they can hold.

But the future is changing.

Electronic book readers are really starting to pick up steam.  Instead of waiting in line and hauling a dozen books around, with ebook readers, students will be able to download the books instantly, and carry their entire semester’s worth of books on a single, lightweight device.

It’s already starting to happen.  This year, Penn State Universities Libraries and the English Department are beginning a project using the Sony Reader Digital Book, testing how useful having electronic book readers can be in a higher education setting.  And Plastic Logic has announced a new, larger electronic reading device that might just be perfect for academic textbooks!  Even library books are now becoming available electronically.

So this semester, go ahead and buy that backpack.  But who knows?  By next year, it might be out of style!