"When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books’"

September 24, 2009 11:18 AM

Cushing Academy, a New England prep school in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, is taking a (not all-together) novel direction with their library: they're getting rid of the books. There is plenty of commentary on the decision, but this isn't the first school to go digital. One of the earlier adopters was the University of Texas at Austin, who changed their undergraduate library into a 24-hour electronic information commons, though almost all of the library's 90,000 volumes were dispersed to other university collections (their other libraries are still intact).

From The Boston Globe link above the break:

Instead of a library, the academy is spending nearly $500,000 to create a “learning center,’’ though that is only one of the names in contention for the new space. In place of the stacks, they are spending $42,000 on three large flat-screen TVs that will project data from the Internet and $20,000 on special laptop-friendly study carrels. Where the reference desk was, they are building a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine.

The headmaster for Cushing Academy, Dr. James Tracy, posted a follow-up summary of forthcoming changes, noting that "many of the books that have been removed from the library have found new homes in departmental offices," and the choice to purchase 18 e-books was with the intention that the "students [would] have dramatically increased access to millions of volumes rather than just 20,000." Dr. Tracy also noted that "Cushing has for years been a laptop school, where all students bring laptops to their classrooms (provided free to financially needy students), every classroom is equipped with a “smart board” with access to the internet, and there is wi-fi across campus."

posted by filthy light thief (20 comments total)

Related post from over a year ago: "Schools should continue to require library research so they can see how old folks used to Google stuff." - discussion around a lengthy article by Robert Darnton, historian and Director of the Harvard Library.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:20 AM on September 24, 2009

Previously, including this link minus "comments=all".
posted by lumensimus at 11:21 AM on September 24, 2009

Though this is a far more thorough treatment of the issue.
posted by lumensimus at 11:23 AM on September 24, 2009

Sassafras! Including the title as linked text. Next time: more dupe-checking before researching.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:25 AM on September 24, 2009

Tarkin: The Campus Library will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just received word that the Dean has dissolved the bookshelves permanently. The last remnants of the Old Literacy have been swept away.


Actually, though, this pretty much is the future...
posted by darth_tedious at 11:27 AM on September 24, 2009

Well, at least it solves the multiple-copies-of-the-same-book problem.
posted by box at 11:35 AM on September 24, 2009

fucking super a whole non-library full of public-domain books and the entire twilight series and nothing in between
posted by Optimus Chyme at 11:42 AM on September 24, 2009 [3 favorites]

grotesque.
posted by sexyrobot at 11:44 AM on September 24, 2009 [1 favorite]

I'd have more to say about this, but I'm really busy checking out books at the moment.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:48 AM on September 24, 2009

What does a $12,000. cappuccino machine even look like?
posted by Gungho at 11:48 AM on September 24, 2009

> "We're teaching students how to do research," Ms. Henry said. "Their first reaction is to Google.

And, in my experience (with high school students, mostly), their second, third, fourth and fifth. It's kind of amazing how internet literate kids/young adults are in a lot of ways, and yet how naive many of them are in regard to the accuracy of information on the net. A staggering amount of them seem to believe that pretty much anything on the internet is a perfectly citable source, and I highly doubt the vast majority of them ever dig deeper than the first page of Google results they get.

I can't help but think that many if not most of the kids at these schools will be just fine with the decision to do away with books. Most of the high school students who come into my library asking for books for research purposes do so only because they've been forced to by teachers who demand at least one print source, and they are not happy about it. I'll never forget the girl who told me "My teacher said I need at least one book," the word "book" absolutely dripping with disgust.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:51 AM on September 24, 2009 [2 favorites]

If Isaac Newton had been sitting in a library looking at books instead of under an apple tree, he wouldn't have discovered anything.
posted by netbros at 11:52 AM on September 24, 2009

What does a $12,000. cappuccino machine even look like?

Like this, apparently.
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:59 AM on September 24, 2009

I think that one of the main things being lost is the feeling of browsing. Being able to aimlessly walk up and down stacks is one of the most satisfying feelings, and has lead me to read a lot of stuff I wouldn't otherwise have found.

Perhaps this is the future, and I'm not even adverse to it in institutions of learning. Universities and schools should be teaching the new information literacy skills to match whatever comes next. But what about public libraries?
posted by codacorolla at 11:59 AM on September 24, 2009

Memo from an old fart.

Pre-google search smarts translate brilliantly to the new information age.

But the opposite does not appear to be the case.

(I'm here if the power fails, kiddo!)
posted by Jody Tresidder at 12:04 PM on September 24, 2009 [2 favorites]

Interesting how they seem to have missed the fact that the great majority of books are actually not available in electronic form.

Where the reference desk was, they are building a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine.

Oh. So it's less about "let's change and improve the library concept!" and more like "let's turn this into a coffeeshop and make some maneys!"
posted by splice at 12:04 PM on September 24, 2009

> But what about public libraries?

Books aren't going anywhere in Toronto, at least.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:08 PM on September 24, 2009

>Interesting how they seem to have missed the fact that the great majority of books are actually not available in electronic form.

Well, Google and various rent-seekers are bickering over that as we speak. If we had a sane copyright regime, that wouldn't be an issue.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:13 PM on September 24, 2009

Most student are well ahead of Dr. Tracy, and are probably aware that once you have abolished the library in favor of Google, you may as well abolish the university. The university may have some advantages over the internet, but when you make a cost comparison, the internet wins every time. So goodbye, Dr. Tracy. Having eliminated the need for your current job, I'm sure you will make an excellent barista.
posted by Faze at 12:23 PM on September 24, 2009

I never met a prep school kid that ever read a book, anyway.

makes offhand observation that contains a serious generalization, hits "post comment", and walks away from thread.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 12:26 PM on September 24, 2009