library with no books?

[ak rain]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/04/a_library_without_the_books/
found at the amazon discussion boards but thought we might like it too interesting idea.
each library must provied for its own communities needs but..
sylvia

[Scheherazade]

Wish they'd sent some of those books my way.  I don't care how digital the future is, there's still something nice about a library full of books and I really want to have a well stocked one of my own.

[m&m]

 

I don't like this idea at all.  I wish they'd combine the library with an electronic media lounge.  As much as I love my Kindle (and usually choose it over DTBs), I cannot imagine a "library" without books.  Maybe we're moving away from paper for leisure reading, but there are many instances when electronic media cannot compete with a physical book.  Writing research papers wouldn't have been the same without sitting at a table piled high with 4-inch thick books, with hundreds of slips of paper marking important ideas or quotes.  My experience with reference books in electronic form hasn't been good. Maybe I'm just not ready to embrace the idea, yet.  Call me old fashioned or a cynic, but this isn't right.   

[LisaW.]

As much as I love my kindle... I can't imagine not having any physical books. The future may be digital, but there's no need to get rid of the past (or present). A school library without (physical) books doesn't really seem much like a school at all... it seems more like a techno coffee house.

Also, I think that while having information at a click of a button is a wonderful thing, it seems to me that this may make some kids/teens only become able to deal with instant gratification. While when dealing with physical books, it's amazing what you may learn while searching for something specific.

[Rasputina]

Wait, he actually thinks that replacing 20k books with a couple of big screens and a whopping 18 e-readers is a step forward?

Wow.

Oh and don't forget the 50k spent on the coffee shop with that 12k cappuccino machine /rolleyes

[telracs]

I'm just afraid that when/if a time comes when the electronics fail, there will be no books to fall back on.

[ak rain]

I would hope its just a branch of the library but it did not sound like it. the High Schoolers that I work with have to be dragged to the books if you want them to do research out of books and not only the computer. this place sounds like a sports bar crossed with a financial instatution. they were talking about changing the name from library to something else
Sylvia

[Rasputina]

I'm just afraid that when/if a time comes when the electronics fail, there will be no books to fall back on.

I've been concerned about that also. e readers really are still in their infancy.

[Hugh Critz]

This part was the key for me:

"School officials said when they checked library records one day last spring only 48 books had been checked out, and 30 of those were children’s books."

If so few people are checking out books, why is there such a big uproar about it?  I think its a romantic notion that isn't realistic.  Students don't go to the library to check out books, they go to use the tables to study.  That's what I did in college.  In fact, the books and periodicals in the library were really a distraction rather than anything else.  I couldn't recall checking out any books in the library when I was in school, but I did procrastinate writing papers and studying for tests by taking out some periodicals to thumb through.

[qotdr]

This is an elite private  school. Not a public school.  Just another excuse to cut costs.

[Athenagwis]

This part was the key for me:

"School officials said when they checked library records one day last spring only 48 books had been checked out, and 30 of those were children’s books."

If so few people are checking out books, why is there such a big uproar about it?  I think its a romantic notion that isn't realistic.  Students don't go to the library to check out books, they go to use the tables to study.  That's what I did in college.  In fact, the books and periodicals in the library were really a distraction rather than anything else.  I couldn't recall checking out any books in the library when I was in school, but I did procrastinate writing papers and studying for tests by taking out some periodicals to thumb through.

I 100% agree and was just going to post the same thing.  If this was a town library I would be wholly against it, but I think very very few students use a college library anymore.  As a continuing education student, my college didn't have a library either and I had absolutely no problem getting everything I needed for 20 courses worth of papers without one.  I think this is smart on the college's part, they are changing with their students instead of forcing them to use an outdated, and rarely used system.

Again if this was a town, I'd say no way, because towns need libraries, but a college?  Not so much.

Rachel

[Rasputina]

I must be unique or something, I've used college libraries when I wasn't even a student there. And no it wasn't to use the tables.

[mlewis78]

It's much too soon for this.

[imallbs]

This part was the key for me:

"School officials said when they checked library records one day last spring only 48 books had been checked out, and 30 of those were children’s books."

If so few people are checking out books, why is there such a big uproar about it?  I think its a romantic notion that isn't realistic.  Students don't go to the library to check out books, they go to use the tables to study.  That's what I did in college.  In fact, the books and periodicals in the library were really a distraction rather than anything else.  I couldn't recall checking out any books in the library when I was in school, but I did procrastinate writing papers and studying for tests by taking out some periodicals to thumb through.

It makes sense that if something isn't being used that it needs to be changed.  Students learn differently than I did because of access to media.  Some many people I know were used to studying in the library and reading outside or in a cafe.  It was smart of the school to invest in so few readers with the future of ebook formats as uncertain as it is right now.

[mom133d (aka Liz)]

But is it still a library?

From Merriam-webster:

Main Entry: li·brary 
Pronunciation: \ˈlī-ˌbrer-ē, -ˌbre-rē; British usually & US sometimes -brər-ē; US sometimes -brē, ÷-ˌber-ē, -ˌbe-rē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural li·brar·ies
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French librarie, Medieval Latin librarium, from Latin, neuter of librarius of books, from libr-, liber inner bark, rind, book
Date: 14th century
1 a : a place in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (as books, manuscripts, recordings, or films) are kept for use but not for sale b : a collection of such materials
2 a : a collection resembling or suggesting a library b : morgue 2
3 a : a series of related books issued by a publisher b : a collection of publications on the same subject
4 : a collection of cloned DNA fragments that are maintained in a suitable cellular environment and that usually represent the genetic material of a particular organism or tissue

[ak rain]

definitions do change with time but my heart agrees with you. the environment they discribe sounds too much like a coffee house. I should also say I worked university library all my college days (6 years) 75% of my job was reshelving books the other part was assisting with research for those new students. Highschoolers today have to be forsed to use a book for research and some education is needed for them to correctly use the internet for research ie you can not list google for a source, how old or correct is that web site, what slant is put on that sites  information....
sylvia

[Rasputina]

Sorry, as much as I love the internet there is a TON of research and information not online and that has been exclusively published in book form for years. On top of all the out of print stuff. I have books on my list for personal research that I can't even find today unless I went to an old large library. If people think kids are getting a "better" education by getting a 12k dollar espresso machine and less than 2 dozen e-readers, well I don't even know what to say. The shallowness of research done today is clearly obvious. This is a prep school, kids shouldn't be getting away such poor scholarship and certainly not have it justified by the admin of the school.