The topic of whether school libraries, or any libraries for that matter, need books came up for debate on NYT a couple days ago and GOOD summarizes the situation at Cushing Academy quite well.
Now, before you librarians freak out, read what the headmaster, James Tracy, has to say:
“By reconceptualizing our library, our teachers and students now have better access to vast digital resources for research and learning. But they need more help from librarians to navigate these resources, so we have also increased our library staff by 25 percent.”
I heart “reconceptualizing.” This headmaster isn’t treating the school library like a chain supermarket. These kids don’t have to bag their own groceries in the self-checkout line, in fact, the headmaster is asking for more baggers and cashiers. His approach is based on a concept that most librarians haven’t grasped yet: a growing pool of information needs more librarians to navigate it.
Start believing it folks! Because when I become a librarian, I want this to be common knowledge.
And if your patrons want to read books on a screen, give ‘em some kindles, for Pete’s sake. Why are we getting all nostalgic? The mind evolves. These kids can probably read better on a screen already.
