The Bookless Library, Part One

November 18, 2009

Liz Vezina, who has been a librarian at Cushing for nearly two decades, told the Globe that the bookless library concept makes her sad and that “the smell, the feel, the physicality of a book is something really special” that will be missed in the new learning center. Other critics point out that students will be highly prone to interruptions such as email and instant messaging while they are trying to study and read on electronic devices. And spilling a cup of coffee on a book is a mistake a lot less costly to remedy than spilling it on an electronic reader such as a Kindle, which can cost several hundred dollars to replace.

On the other hand, there are some distinct advantages to doing your reading online or on an electronic device. “Instead of a traditional library with 20,000 books, we’re building a virtual library where students will have access to millions of books,” Cushing headmaster James Tracy told the Globe.  Some public libraries and their patrons are catching on to the advantages of electronic books as well. Michael Colford, director of information technology at the Boston Public Library, told the New York Times last month that electronic titles can attract technologically savvy readers, especially younger ones, who otherwise might never borrow from their library. “If we don’t provide this material for them, they are just going to stop using the library altogether,” he said. Read more

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