Book Burning

[xoxoxoBruce]

Well not really burning, book disposal, book dismissing, book elimination.

There are rolling hills and ivy-covered brick buildings. There are small classrooms, high-tech labs, and well-manicured fields. There’s even a clock tower with a massive bell that rings for special events. Cushing Academy has all the hallmarks of a New England prep school, with one exception.

This year, after having amassed a collection of more than 20,000 books, officials at the pristine campus about 90 minutes west of Boston have decided the 144-year-old school no longer needs a traditional library. The academy’s administrators have decided to discard all their books and have given away half of what stocked their sprawling stacks - the classics, novels, poetry, biographies, tomes on every subject from the humanities to the sciences. The future, they believe, is digital.

“When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books,’’ said James Tracy, headmaster of Cushing and chief promoter of the bookless campus.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

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.

And to replace those old pulpy devices that have transmitted information since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1400s, they have spent $10,000 to buy 18 electronic readers made by Amazon.com and Sony. Administrators plan to distribute the readers, which they’re stocking with digital material, to students looking to spend more time with literature.

Those who don’t have access to the electronic readers will be expected to do their research and peruse many assigned texts on their computers.

“Instead of a traditional library with 20,000 books, we’re building a virtual library where students will have access to millions of books,’’ said Tracy, whose office shelves remain lined with books. “We see this as a model for the 21st-century school.’’

link

Yeah, who needs books when Wikipedia knows everything?
It may work for some, but I'm not comfortable with this change. Firstly, not all the books are available on electronic media, which means every student researching a topic will be limited to the same few resources. And making notes in the margin would be difficult.
Secondly, reading for pleasure on the electronic media doesn't work for me... curling up with a good flatscreen doesn't fulfill my tactile needs.

My magazines keep pushing me to subscribe online. For some reason they don't understand why that doesn't work while I'm in the bathroom, eating lunch at work, or waiting for something sitting in the car.

Oh and when you're out in the woods, try wiping your butt with a kindle.

[richlevy]

I think about all of the books in my public library and how many of them are available in electronic format.

Anyway, it's all fun and games until some engineering students hack into the giant flatscreens and broadcast porn.

[Cloud]

I agree that books give a satisfaction and tactile experience not replicated by digital words. I find it very hard on the eyes, too.

I DON'T agree with the statement about magazines. Online magazines are great! I love magazines, but they pile up so and create clutter. And I have no problem perusing them in the car, at work on my lunch hour, or in the bathroom at all . . . that's what the iphone is for. I read fiction on my iphone, too, tho' not usually "books." I have the entire works of Shakespeare on there, for instance.

[DanaC]

I'm appalled. The great thing about electronic media is it increases accessibility.
This is reducing choice not increasing it. Ridiculous.

[gvidas]

I think that what is interesting is a university going this route might be a useful push in the direction towards digital archiving of the more obscure texts. Their sacrifice in the short term might accelerate the wider accessibility in a few years.

I can understand how, particularly on an older, more established campus, there would be a shortage of space to dedicate to digital media on that scale, thus necessitating the End of Books.

Presumably they would maintain interlibrary loan access for a few years, to fill the gaps.

[Clodfobble]

Don't be confused... this is not a University. It is a boarding school for high-school aged kids.

[DanaC]

Ahh. I thought it was a university.

Our uni is involved in a project to digitise a lot of old and obscure texts. It also has one of the largest research libraries in the country...actually, I think one of the largest in Europe. I pray they never decide to make an either or choice on that.

[Cloud]

and they're encouraging their high school students become wired on caffeine, too

[monster]

don't all public school districts do that? i thought it was common practice -Recently, they moved the coke machines out of the elementary schools here. except ours because it has a public access swimming pool. They're supposed to turn the vending machines off during school hours, but they don't,

[skysidhe]

Originally Posted by Cloud

I agree that books give a satisfaction and tactile experience not replicated by digital words. I find it very hard on the eyes, too.

I DON'T agree with the statement about magazines. Online magazines are great! I love magazines, but they pile up so and create clutter.

I love a hard copy book but almost like online magazines better as well.

I have not tried a Kindle. I read once that the picture view of the text has a more book-like read?

[Cloud]

books or digital? I suspect this topic will be with us for some time. Many of you may have seen that recent CNN article about the future of libraries in the digital age:

"The library building isn't a warehouse for books," said Helene Blowers, digital strategy director at the Columbus [Ohio] Metropolitan Library. "It's a community gathering center."

The future of libraries, with or without books

Here's an interesting blog post in response to it:

Today's librarian, hip, delusional, and doomjed

librarians should be exerting at least some energy, as their counterparts in publishing are, in helping to ensure the continued viability of the physical book, which has been and should continue to be the cornerstone of most public libraries.

[TheMercenary]

I am not keen on the Kindle. It may suit some, not for me.

[hot_pastrami]

The Kindle uses e-paper, which is essentially a densely-packed array of tiny beads that are black on one side, white on the other. Each tiny bead is one pixel, and it just flips from white-side-up to black-side-up when the pixel is "on." It requires no power to remain in position once set, hence the very low power usage over time.

It's got very good contrast and is much easier on the eyes than LCD, but it isn't backlight-friendly due to the opaque materials used.

I think it would be super-cool to just have a basic page of e-paper with a wireless/bluetooth connection, modest amount of onboard flash memory (~1GB) and a scrollbar. It would be an inexpensive, portable, passive reader... much like a magazine. It wouldn't be intended for any long-term storage... just upload a bunch of reading and clear it off when done. But that is unlikely to happen with DRM gumming up the works, and with places like Amazon trying to marry their devices to their online stores.

[Flint]

Glancing over the article, my take is that some administrator is trying to score points by appearing "cutting edge." I see this in my industry too.

[dar512]

I'm a geek. So I want to like the ebooks. But I like to read while I eat (when I'm by myself) and very often I'll read while scratching Mrs. Dar's back.

So until they make them impervious to corn curl orange crud (for example) and light enough to hold comfortably in one hand for an hour or more, they won't be a good substitute.