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“When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books,’’ said James Tracy, headmaster of Cushing and chief promoter of the bookless campus.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#1 - Books are outdated?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?
