Suzanne Karioki

If your ideal date involves a bookstore or just curling up with your favorite book and a hot cup of something sweet, you might just be a book lover.

You love the smell of a new book, the stiff spine and clean, un-dogeared pages; your most cherished book is crinkly with bathwater, has a mysterious stain on the first page and its spine is so old that that the book slumps wherever you put it down.

So if you like these things about physical books, why would you ever switch to cold, unforgiving e-books?

Physical books aren’t going anywhere, even in the digital age where we think people aren’t reading past their Twitter feeds. We still love holding a real book and watching the pages flutter under our fingers. E-books aren’t a threat; rather, they’re a way for even more people to access the world’s most beloved stories. E-books mean that someone without a ride to the local library can still read a classic novel on their phone or Kindle. It means that you can take hundreds of books with you on vacation instead of trying to choose between one more novel and clean underwear.

You don’t have to take a knife to your library card either – apps like Libby (Android, iOS and Windows Phone) allow you to preview and check out your library’s catalog, whether you’re miles away or just lounging around the house. And if they don’t have what you’re looking for, you can send a request right through the app. Plus, you can say goodbye to late fees — these apps will automatically return books on their due date. You can also add yourself to the waitlists of popular books and check it out the second it’s available. Waiting for a book for a lifetime and a half? If you’re a student, you can get access to Boston Public Library’s massive collection of books, often with a much shorter waitlist (or no wait at all).

Audiobooks are wonderful too. Next time you find yourself struggling to put down a good book, try an audio version while you’re doing chores, working out, driving or just drifting off to sleep. You can get those through your library or local bookstore too.

Whether you made a resolution to read more books this year or just looking for something to pass the time, pick up an e- or audiobook. There’s a whole world waiting for you out there.