[LM_NET] Still buying books? You bet!

[Anne-Marie Gordon <media.teatime@GMAIL.COM>]

Hi, all.
The whole "nobody needs printed books anymore" is a battle we'll be
fighting for a while.  I can see the appeal of buying fewer books, I
really can. We have public libraries; e-books never wear out; kids are
constantly online; they're not readers anymore; e-books cost less than
hardcovers; we'll all have e-readers in a few years; online media can
be constantly updated, books can't.  Great.

However...
--The digital divide is real.  I see sweeping statements (some even
made at teacher workshops) saying "Kids have all this stuff!  Use it
in your instruction! They have better tech than the schools!"  This is
true in lots of places--but there are still plenty of kids who do not
have laptops, cell phones, iPods, e-readers, etc., that let them use
digital media outside of school.  I have kids who don't have internet
access at home. I have taught students who don't always have reliable
electric power, let alone computers!  All the subscription databases
and ebooks and downloadable audiobooks in the world make no difference
when the kids are at home with nothing to read.  Books bridge that
gap.
--Public libraries are marvelous, magical places.  But their budgets
are under fire, too, just as ours have been.  They aren't accessible
to younger kids unless their parents take them there. They're not
staffed by certified educators.  The YA & children's collections may
be smaller than what's available at school, and may not closely
reflect the curriculum.  And I have personally attended town meetings
where folks are saying, "Why buy public library materials for kids?
They can use the school libraries!"
--some types of books don't benefit from a move to digital. Graphic
novels, picture books, art books, animal identification books, and
science books with lots of diagrams would all be difficult on an
e-reader. And how do you read a book on a Kindle to a group of first
graders?
--the technology ain't perfect yet.  Password problems, power outages,
dead batteries, format problems and download times will all prevent
kids from accessing digital material.  Even if the power goes out in
my library, I can write down a kid's name and the barcode number of
her book.
--Licensing issues.  Cushing Academy's Library, now in the news for
making the move to an all-digital collection, will not have the Harry
Potter books for their kids, because Rowling did not license a digital
edition.  And lots of Kindle owners THOUGHT they owned a digital
version of 1984, but found out Amazon did not have the legal right to
sell that edition. There is a common misconception that all books are
available in digital form--not even close to the truth.

The technology is getting better all the time, but it's still way,
way, too early to abandon print.

I just blogged about the Cushing Academy move to all digital here:
http://otteroffate.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/124/




On Mon, Sep 7, 2009 at 12:24 PM, Cheryl Quinn<cherylquinn60056@gmail.com> wrote:
> I am once again fighting off suggestions that buying books for a school
> library is soon to be a thing of the past.  I thought I would begin my
> campaign against this notion by asking others on this list if they are still
> buying books.
> I am in a Catholic High School in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.  Budget
> is not a HUGE concern although like everyone we are more aware of issues
> than we have been in the past.  So for a school that says almost 100% of
> their students to college should be be winding down books and pumping up
> on-line subscriptions.  I want to add that due to a long background in
> public libraries I am a huge supporter of them.  My goal has always been
> "life long library users."  In this area of Cook County we have just about
> the finest (I am tempering my statement, I believe they are the finest)
> public libraries in the country.  I urge, strongly urge students to begin
> their projects in our resource center and then go to and use the public
> libraries.  I resist spending large sums of money on subscriptions that are
> readily available right down the street.
>
> Any comments will be welcome.
>
> Cheryl Quinn
> Saint Viator High School
> Arlington Heights, IL
> Librarian
> cherylquinn60056@gmail.com
>
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-- 
Anne-Marie Gordon, NBCT
Library Media Specialist
Livonia Primary Library, Livonia, NY
NSLMPY Award, 2009 District Winner
media.teatime@googlemail.com
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/turrean

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