Writing has been an important part in the development of civilizations, this led to recording things down, and then transmitted into books. Before the computer and typewriter came along, people wrote their books completely by hand! Can anyone imagine a world without books? No records of information? I certainly can't. Simply put, books have helped people gain knowledge. Schools, universities, homes, public buildings...they all carry books! Sure, people can just communicate information orally, but not everyone was born with a photographic memory. We'd likely forget the information passed to us through word of mouth minutes after hearing it.