Sometimes it's for show off and sometimes for wisdom, that's how I would define Piles of Books. Quite often we see them in Library but many people have them at home as well.
Books are not just writing it's an experience shared by someone for many people to get benefitted out of it. There is a wide range of purposes for which people read the books students read them to pass an exam, readers use them to gain knowledge and apply them in their day-to-day life.
When I hear the work piles of books the first thing which strikes me is the exam, students generally do that when they are preparing for the last moment before the exam, in order to cover up everything they just go through one by one and pile up vertically, it looks funny at a time.
In my opinion, Books are relevant, and reading them thoroughly takes time and most importantly incorporating the knowledge gained out of them into our day-to-day life, to be a better person in life.