Closing Libraries in Schools, Books in General

[howeird]

There was a radio ad by NEA this morning moaning that budget cuts "may even close school libraries."

So what?

Even in the days when I was in school, the school library's pitiful collection of books was seldom used by the students. The place was empty most of the time because - big surprise - students were in class. I went to relatively affluent suburban grade and jr. high schools, we had libraries and full-time librarians - who did almost nothing. Every now and then we'd get a practical lesson in how to use a card catalog and the Dewey and LoC numbering systems, but everything I needed to know about libraries I learned in class from English and Social Studies teachers.

And here we are in the age of the Internet, where the only use for libraries is a place to hook up the computers for those who cannot afford their own (or whose parents, knowing it to be a tool of Satan, won't buy them one), and the occasional NAMBLA meeting.

It's time for the paper book industry to go away, and be replaced by the affordable electronic book. Imagine the trees saved. The oil not burned to deliver massive crates of heavy books. The oil not burned because who needs bright lights to read from a monitor? An eBook fits in your pocket, no matter how many volumes of literature is packed inside. No more having the school bully make you drop your books in the hallway - an eBook is a lot easier to pick up off the floor.

Comments

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

You lived such a deprived childhood. Our school libraries were in constant use.

[howeird]

My point is I was NOT deprived. We had libaries and librarians in our schools.

The only reason I can see for maintaining libraries any more is to give people who live with their families a quiet place to study, or curl up with their favorite texting device. Don't need a room full of paper for that.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

But we weren't deprived either (Danville is far from that), but we WERE in the library all the time.

My point was that you can't judge all school libraries by your own.

Neither can I.

[howeird]

You must have had free periods or something. Where did students find time to be in the library?

[didjiman.livejournal.com]

You obviously don't have kids or kids in schools :-)

(yea yea I know it's the former)

[howeird]

No, but you do, and I'd be grateful to hear why you think libraries filled with paper books are still necessary.

[didjiman.livejournal.com]

Well, it's very simple: both our kids use their school and the local libraries extensively. They love books.

I myself still use the library too. There's something nice about flipping pages :-)

[howeird]

Oh, kind of like comfort food.

[didjiman.livejournal.com]

I should also mention that the local libraries are very popular. I know the ones in Sunnyvale were too, when we used to live there. Not sure about Mt. View...

[howeird]

Yup, MV is popular too. But I think these libraries would be just as popular without the book collection. Especially if they had free wireless and mini PC's which could be checked out for in-library use in the carrels and at the desks.

[cat-herder.livejournal.com]

The grade school I went to had a library. Visits to it were doled out with an eyedropper. Neither high school I went to had one. But that's not the thing that gets me. Its the reliance on e-books and the internet. With a dead tree book, thousands of dollars go into making a publication run, so there has to be some oversight. Anyone can cobble up a web page that looks authoritative. Another thing is that, with the electronic media, the information shifts. You may look at it one day and then discover something different the next. I read articles all the time and find they have changed, sometimes in the interval between my reading it and my clicking to see comments.

[howeird]

When we were young, there was definitely a fine-tooth comb run over any potential book, but that's just not the case anymore. Editing is sloppy - I can't think of a book I've read in the last 20 years which had no typos, for instance. And who gets published and distributed and publicized is much more subjective and commercial now.

As for the changes in web articles, we used to publish two or three editions of local newspapers, what was in the articles - especially page 1 - changed with each edition. As always, you just need to look at many sources and take the highest common denominator.