LIBRARIES: Booking a Librarian Could be Difficult at This Library: A Gamble Has Been Made on Throwing Away ALL of the Bookies

"David P. Dillard" <jwne-o/[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.culture.literature.ebook-community
Message-ID <[email protected]>

I saw the post from Brenna Lyons and did not think of this list at the 
time I sent this post off, but some on this list may be interested in this 
post's content.


But first some words from our sponsor:


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now on to our feature presentation:



Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 15:51:58 -0400 (EDT)
From: David P. Dillard <jwne-o/[email protected]>
To: Net-Gold <[email protected]>,
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Cc: MediaMentor <[email protected]>,
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Subject: LIBRARIES: Booking a Librarian Could be Difficult at This Library: A
     Gamble Has Been Made on Throwing Away ALL of the Bookies



.


LIBRARIES:
Booking a Librarian Could be Difficult at This Library:
A Gamble Has Been Made on Throwing Away ALL of the Bookies


Welcome to the library. Say goodbye to the books.
Cushing Academy embraces a digital future

Home / News / Local / Mass.
Welcome to the library. Say goodbye to the books.
Cushing Academy embraces a digital future

When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books, 
said headmaster James Tracy. (Mark Wilson for The Boston Globe)

By David Abel
Globe Staff / September 4, 2009
The Boston Globe
<http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/
2009/09/04/a_library_without_the_books/?page=1>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/m3arbz>



ASHBURNHAM - There are rolling hills and ivy-covered brick buildings. There are 
small classrooms, high-tech labs, and well-manicured fields. Theres 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 academys 
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 isnt Fahrenheit 451 [the 1953 Ray Bradbury novel in which books 
are banned]. Were not discouraging students from reading. We see this as a 
natural way to shape emerging trends and optimize technology.



----------------------------------



Celebrate Labor Day with a book
September 4, 12:02 PM Minneapolis Performing Arts Examiner
Claudia Haas
The Examiner (Philadelphia) 
<http://www.examiner.com/x-19120-Minneapolis-Performing-
Arts-Examiner~y2009m9d4-Celebrate-Labor-Day-with-a-book>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/na68gs>


Cushing Academy in MA has done away with all of their books. It seems they take 
up too much space.


<snip>


Books are so wonderfully physical.  You can take them camping, on subways, 
while you wait for your child to get out of soccer practice/dance 
lessons/trombone lessons/basketball/orthodontist. Will you truly curl up with 
your computer and snatch a twenty minute break while you read the next few 
chapters in a book?



----------------------------------



A library at your fingertips
Cushing takes steps to move to a virtual content
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER
The Community Journal
<http://www.thecommunityjournal.com/news/2009/0828/front_page/001.html>


Anderson and Tracey both say they do not believe the printed book will 
disappear. Tracey said most of his students bring books they read for pleasure 
from home and that the school will provide paperback books in a variety of 
areas on campus, such as the new coffee shop.

"We are not anti-book," he said. "We don't want them to feel too attached to 
their laptop; we still want them to go out and listen to the birds."

The school will keep the historic collections of books as well as a number of 
visual media and children's books, Tracey said. So far the Academy's librarians 
examined the entire collection of 20,000 books, and donated nearly half to the 
community.

Cushing's internal research shows students rarely rely on printed books for 
their academic work, and instead search for information online. Tracey said the 
wide range of information students have the ability to access today is 
something they have to be taught to use. Tracey said it is an educator's jobs 
to show students how accessing a peer reviewed journal article in an Internet 
database is better than accessing a person's blog or a non-reviewed article.

"Librarians are going to become more important not less important. You need a 
guide," Tracey said.



----------------------------------


Books: An Outdated Technology?
September 4th, 2009 | Electronic Reading
The Late Age of Print
<http://www.thelateageofprint.org/2009/09/04/books-outdated-technology/>


From the annals of VERY BAD IDEAS comes this story in todays Boston Globe. 
Cushing Academy, a prep school located in western Massachusetts, has decided to 
dispense with its library of printed books  more than 20,000 volumes in all 
and switch over entirely to digital media resources.  The change was prompted 
in no small part by Headmaster James Tracy, who is quoted in the article as 
saying, When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before 
books.

To fill the void once occupied by its collection of printed books, Cushing is 
spending about a half-million dollars on large, flat-screen data displays, 
laptop hookups, Amazon Kindles, Sony Readers  oh, and a $12,000 cappuccino 
machine.  (I went to public school.  The cappuccino machine seems a little  how 
should I put it?  indulgent to me.)


<snip>


Cushing Academy just gave away 20,000 printed books.  Theyre not getting them 
back.  This is an object lesson in what not to do in the digital age.



----------------------------------


September 4, 2009
A Tragic Decision [8:34 am]
A library without the books (pdf)
Furd Log <http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7945>


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




Friday, September 04, 2009
A Library Without Books? Sigh.
Warning: This Boston Globe story (or this post) may cause severe and acute 
depression.
PhiloBiblos 
<http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2009/09/library-without-books-sigh.html>


Not surprisingly, Cushing's librarian of 17 years, Liz Vezina, said "It makes 
me sad. Im going to miss them. I love books. Ive grown up with them, and theres 
something lost when theyre virtual. Theres a sensual side to them - the smell, 
the feel, the physicality of a book is something really special." History 
department chair Alexander Coyle said "A lot us are wondering how this changes 
the dignity of the library, and why we cant move to increase digital resources 
while keeping the books."

American Library Association executive director Keith Michael Fiels said that 
this decision raises several concerns, not the least of which are how the 
students will have access to the e-books (most of those offered by Sony and 
Amazon aren't free, after all) and that the loss of the ability to browse the 
stacks may [WILL] hamper students doing research.



----------------------------------



Read Roger
The Horn Book editor's rants and raves
Friday, September 04, 2009
Would you trust these people with your kid?
Labels: Parents, School, This is stupid
<http://www.hbook.com/blog/2009/09/ 
would-you-trust-these-people-with-your.html>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/nsdcb4>


Friday, September 04, 2009
Cushing Academy's strange idea
The Centered Librarian
<http://centeredlibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/09/
cushing-academys-strange-idea.html>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/nml8zv>




Subject: Re: Massachusetts library discards all books
From: "Gary R. Boye"
MLA-L Archives
<https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/
wa-iub.exe?A2=ind0909A&L=MLA-L&T=0&F=&S=&P=38121>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/m8v9g5>


Personally, I think in education we need to react to the world around us
and change with it, not try to drive the change and wind up leaving our
students in a fantasy world with impractical ideas and a lack of skills.




----------------------------------




The complete articles may be read at the URLs provided for each.



WEBBIB0910




Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jwne-o/[email protected]
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Bushell, R. & Sheldon, P. (eds),
Wellness and Tourism: Mind, Body, Spirit,
Place, New York: Cognizant Communication Books.
Wellness Tourism: Bibliographic and Webliographic Essay
David P. Dillard
<http://tinyurl.com/p63whl>
<http://tinyurl.com/ou53aw>




INDOOR GARDENING

Improve Your Chances for Indoor Gardening Success

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http://indoorgardening.jiglu.com/



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