Re: [LM_NET] SCHOOL LIBRARIES ARE IRRELEVANT?

[David Lininger <tigerlibrarian@GMAIL.COM>]

Bob Hicks wrote:
> Believing this might stimulate interest and discussion, I first 
> submitted this to "School Library Journal" but to no surprise they could 
> not find space for the article.
> Bob-- Sorry you didn't receive a reply previously. Our editorial 
> schedule is set for 2010 and, unfortunately, we do not have an open 
> position for your article. Thanks you for submitting it.--Phyllis.

I've been thinking about this off and on today. On the one hand, we 
librarians tend to be early adopters of new things, and it comes as no 
surprise that we are the ones pushing for subscription online databases. 
On the other hand, books aren't as easily taken out of service. My 
school is out in the country, but right on a major highway. We've had a 
tornado pop out of the sky literally across the road from us. We've had 
vehicles knock out electricity. We've had ice storms knock out all 
electricity in the county. We've had construction workers uproot phone 
lines. No matter what the problem, though, the books were available to use.

As I look at the pile of today's returned books, most of them are 
fiction books. Kids are still reading, but they are using nonfiction 
books less. Missouri recently revised our periodical standards to 
reflect the fact that periodicals are not as necessary for research 
anymore because the State provides us with access to several quality 
databases. As they come up for renewal, I'm evaluating each periodical. 
If it is used frequently, I'll keep it. If not, I'll drop it, and add 
another title that is more likely to appeal to my students.

Are school libraries irrelevant? Not in my mind. A library is simply a 
place where a person can get what they need, whether it be fiction or 
nonfiction, pleasure reading or serious research. Many libraries will 
report that _Consumer's Reports_ is one of the most-used periodicals 
they have. Why? Their information is NOT available on the Internet. It 
may be that in the future they will follow the lead of _The Wall Street 
Journal_ and make some content available for free, while other content 
is by subscription only. When that happens, they may decide to save some 
money and drop the print version. Until then, though, the print copy is 
still going to be in demand.

Way back in the 1960's and 70's, when computers were first showing up, 
the prediction was that they would eliminate the need for paper. 
Everything could be done on the computer. How has that worked out in 
your school? We have a storage room here that is packed with boxes of 
paper in August. We're out of some colors of paper now (with three 
months of school yet to go), and we can see the end of other colors. By 
the time summer school comes around in June teachers will be fighting 
each other for the last of the paper.

Has the computer lived up to the promises that were made 40 years ago? 
No. Has it exceeded the wildest dreams of 40 years ago? Yes. The 
computer is simply another tool in our toolkit to help our students, 
faculty, staff, and parents find what they are looking for.

Several years ago, a couple of freshmen girls came to me and asked if I 
knew anything about computers. When I admitted that I did, they 
explained that they were having some difficulty with the computer in 
another room. As they explained the problem, I was pretty sure that I 
knew what needed to be done, but I decided to have a bit of fun with 
them. I grabbed my Precision Computer Attitude Adjusting Tool and went 
with them. They traded terrified glances with each other as we went down 
the hall. I spoke sternly to the offending computer, set the tool on the 
top of it, and proceeded to type the correct command. The computer 
promptly behaved, I took my tool with me, and left them staring at the 
computer. Had they been working in the library, where I could have seen 
them, the problem would have been solved in the time it took them to 
walk to the library.


-- 
David Lininger, kb0zke
MS/HS Librarian
Skyline MS/HS
Urbana, MO 65767
(417) 993-4226
t i g e r l i b r a r i a n  at g m a i l  dot c o m

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