Library's function in the same way, yet books seem to struggle to secure an "aura of awe" in the same way that physical artwork does. Why is this?
Perhaps we place more value on the physical material required to create an object rather than the experience it procures. In today's world, where people are constantly bombarded with entertainment, we expect to be given books. There's even a whole giveaway section on goodreads. In my opinion, the people that take advantage of prereleases, public libraries, and book readings, are the people that ascribe more than monetary value to literature, anyways.
So, as a blogger, a hoarder of old leather-bounds, and a warrior against e-Books, I consider literature both a right and a luxury.