Here is the latest in my new series "Things-that-get-Tiff-all-riled-up-and-passionate-and-crazylike."
Cushing Academy, a prep school in New England, with a former library of over 20,000 books [I wish!], has 'decided to discard ALL THEIR BOOKS.' I'll let that sink in for a minute.
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Are you freaking out yet?!?
I can barely grasp this idea or summarize the article very well because I am so shocked that it's hard to type.
Here's a quote that I can hardly believe:
“When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books,’’ said James Tracy, headmaster of Cushing and chief promoter of the bookless campus. “This isn’t ‘Fahrenheit 451’ [the 1953 Ray Bradbury novel in which books are banned]. We’re not discouraging students from reading. We see this as a natural way to shape emerging trends and optimize technology.’’
Um, hold up a second. I have two problems with this quote:
#1 - Books are outdated? Seriously? I highly disagree. I do think e-readers are fabulous for some purposes but not for all! Not many [any?] schools can afford an e-reader for each student at their school, but I bet most [all?] schools have at least one book per student in their library. Oh, and further on in the article it mentions that this school has only purchased 18 e-readers for their entire school! Really. Really? I am not totally sure how many students attend Cushing Academy, but I'm pretty sure it's more than 18. [I did some online research and I believe there is somewhere between 500-800 students.]
#2 - "We’re not discouraging students from reading." I also disagree with this statement. Here's an example: Student walks into library. Asks for favorite fiction book. Is told 'we no longer have any books.' Is handed an e-reader which does not have book student wants. Student leaves. Sound discouraging to you?
Another part of the article that I just adore [where is that sarcasm font?] is:
"Where the reference desk was, they are building a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine."
OMG. No words. None.
What this article does for me, besides make me freak out, is worry about the future of my profession. Libraries without books? It's absurd. Don't get me wrong, I love having access to eBooks, and the databases I provide for my students are amazing resources and greatly supplement my collection. But that is what I believe digital media/books/etc should be: a supplement. Not the whole.
The librarian [what will they call her now?] at Cushing said she never imagined working as the director of a library without any books.
Neither have I.
[more to come on this topic and the fate of libraries in the very near future!]
Here is the link to the article. Read it yourself and please let me know what you think! Am I the only one freaking out here?
4 comments:
A few random thoughts:
-physical books provide a pleasing tactile experience
-sharing stories e.g. during a class visit, would be difficult
-physical books are more permanent; most of us have at least a few well-loved volumes from our childhood
-a beautiful illustration is not the same on a small screen
-print books are easier to share
-what would happen to novelty books: popups, lift the flap, etc.?
My childhood birthday and Christmas gifts always included at least a few books. I remember riding my bike home from the public library with a basket full of new titles.
Surely there's room enough in our world for both technology and books.
I want to go up to that headmaster and SCREAM!
Even if books ever become outdated (which they won't), wouldn't there be value in keeping those that already exist?! Old books = valuable and/or have rare information! And I agree with what Diane says too!
2 Things.
1) I've been thinking, tweeting, and commenting about this all day long. I think that we need to step back from our knee-jerk reactions about "OMG THE FUTURE OF MY PROFESSION" with this article. This whole is basically an experiment. The headmaster is taking a big gamble here (even bigger because evidently the Cushing parents didn't find out about it until AFTER the article came out.) It might work out for their community. He seems to believe it will. Our Library's need to serve our communities no matter what form that takes. Obviously your points about serving reader needs are valid. The 18 e-book readers (and even worse, Kindles with their Amazon proprietary-ness and unwillingness to let Kindles circulate in most libraries.)
2)You are absolutely right about the first point. And I'd like to add a point I thought of with him talking about the replacing of scrolls with books because scrolls were outdated technology. Technically, he's right. But just because movable type was invented people didn't stop writing things out long hand. What actually happened was that literacy blossomed all over, where scrolls and illuminated manuscripts were only meant for the elite scholars and clergy and royals, they became accessible and affordable. But with e-books only a literacy divide, this time the digital divide, rears its ugly head again...at least for the time being.
I'll probably blog about this more later, but good points, and don't worry, most School Libraries aren't going anywhere any time soon.
Also, how accessible is that to the poor/middle class. How are they going to afford to read these electronic books.
$50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine is just asinine.
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