I'm on my fifth year of college (not all of it has been full time, I've transferred schools, taken semesters off, etc) yet I've never checked out a book from any of the three libraries I've had access to. This isn't a result of lack of availability; my school has a 7 story library. It's not a result of laziness, either. I have a good GPA, and work hard.
This may have to do with your major - something computer science, isn't it? I can assure you that in the humanities you most certainly need the libraries - whenever you have to write a paper, a project, etc. And I'd think it's rather hard to write a master's thesis in any major without library books, or at least printed scientific magazines. Many scientific magazines have put their archives on sites like JSTOR, but not remotely all.
That's for the actual work itself; personally I've also used my university library for reading about things that weren't in the curriculum but that I found interesting. I guess that's a matter of preference.
The fact is, library books just aren't needed. Loving books for the nostalgia factor, tactile feel, and all that kind of stuff is fine for personal use, but that shouldn't factor into the decision making process of a school. A library is supposed to be about learning and education, and every one I've been in has been used as little more than a place to sit and type on a laptop. Or take a nap. Or get a coffee. As I mentioned earlier, my school has a seven story library. It's enormous, and yet I always have a hard time finding a place to sit. Why? Because it's jam packed full of books no one ever needs.
You're probably right that looking towards the future, more space will be needed in libraries for sitting and working at computers, or group works, and less for physical books. Libraries may find it's a better use of space to put many of the less important books in their stacks or depots, from where they can still be fetched when needed. But selling them on a large scale? That's not a good idea.
I definitely think school libraries could do better than to fill themselves with expensive books, but I'm not really sure what they should do with themselves.
High school libraries certainly could. College ones, not so much.
Prep School deems books an "outdated technology"
11/09/2009 04:00:08 PM
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I find this awesome.
11/09/2009 04:27:54 PM
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I think this may mark the first time you and I have completely agreed on a subject. *NM*
11/09/2009 05:54:49 PM
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I think they should have done both.
11/09/2009 04:36:53 PM
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I thought about making a post, but it would be a poor version of this one. I agree completely. *NM*
11/09/2009 07:21:29 PM
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I'd be shocked, except that I'm not sure why a HS needs a library in the first place.
11/09/2009 06:01:44 PM
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Most high schools have libraries.
11/09/2009 07:13:37 PM
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I'm not surprised, I've seen enough American movies and TV shows to realize that.
11/09/2009 07:23:15 PM
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Re: I'm not surprised, I've seen enough American movies and TV shows to realize that.
12/09/2009 02:36:33 AM
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I think this is probably a good decision.
11/09/2009 06:14:28 PM
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For colleges it's a very different story, imho.
11/09/2009 06:24:47 PM
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Re: For colleges it's a very different story, imho.
11/09/2009 06:41:20 PM
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You're betraying your lack of humanities (ha!) here.
11/09/2009 07:25:12 PM
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Yes. No one writing directly from wikipedia should BE in college.
11/09/2009 07:30:47 PM
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Re: You're betraying your lack of humanities (ha!) here.
12/09/2009 02:48:34 AM
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*gives you a scanner and a keyboard* Have fun.
12/09/2009 04:57:58 AM
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Re: cool, thanks for the free scanner, but...
12/09/2009 11:01:22 PM
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They still have physical classrooms, and they're whining about "outdated technology"? Pfft. *NM*
11/09/2009 06:32:25 PM
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Appalling.
11/09/2009 07:16:13 PM
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Yeah, you can actually. Have you tried curling up with an eBook reader?
11/09/2009 09:05:16 PM
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Just because you're unnaturally attuned to "new" things doesn't mean everyone is.
13/09/2009 12:59:19 AM
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Re: Prep School deems books an "outdated technology"
12/09/2009 01:00:48 PM
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I agree, but students going to a prep school probably don't have financial problems. *NM*
12/09/2009 11:31:53 PM
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Some Prep School, and some students, hence "Some Prep School. "
12/09/2009 02:04:38 PM
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bah, who needs to learn how to write a bibliography
12/09/2009 03:47:32 PM
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You're telling the wrong person; he has a form he wants them to observe.
12/09/2009 05:20:34 PM
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