Books are one of man's greatest inventions. They are a convenient way to store, transport, and find knowledge and information. People have used some form of books for the last 5,000 years. In ancient times, people wrote on clay tablets, strips of wood, or other materials. The word "book" comes from the english word boc which meant tablet or written sheets. Throughout the centuries, books and their production evolved from being handwritten by scribes to mechanically driven printing presses and mass production (1). By 1937, mass production of books was possible and profitable. Penguin Books and Pocket Books, which were founded in 1935 and 1939 respectively, were major forces behind the popularization of paperback books. Paperback books, which were founded in the early 1800s, contributed to increases in the reading and purchasing of literature due to their size and cost (2). In 1944, xerography was invented, making written material even more accessible (3). By the early to mid twentieth century, book business and book popularity were at the highest levels .

In America, reading had evolved from an aristocratic hobby to a leisure time activity enjoyed by people of almost every class.. In the years, 1937-1945, reading, along with playing card games, movies, and listening to the radio, was a popular way to pass the time. Magazines, such as Popular Mechanics, and The Saturday Evening Post, newspapers, comic books, and more traditional literature were the common choices for reading enjoyment. Reading was a popular leisure time activity in the nascent town of Greenbelt Maryland. But Greenbelt was not a typical town and neither were its reading habits.