High school principal throws out the books in school library & turns it into a coffee shop

[Hannah Bell]

Just adding a coffee shop to a neighborhood library so people can feel like they're in Starbucks and ultra hip was apparently too passe a trend for Principal James McSwain of Lamar High School.

Finishing up a week ago, McSwain has thrown out nearly all the books and filled the space they were unnecessarily taking up with couches and coffee and food and told his students that they can access the exciting world of reading through e-books! And if they don't have a laptop of their own and Internet access to do so, they can use one of the laptop computers in the library coffeeshop!

And he's bought 35 new laptops! For a Houston ISD flagship school with more than 3,000 students in it...

"I was appalled. I was stunned by the whole thing I can't imagine what he was thinking. I'm assured this is old school thinking and we should just appreciate that they're not old school thinkers."
The change, she said, was "designed to impress the new superintendent with the forward thinking nature of that particular principal at that particular school. "

She said she was told one teacher who had kids after school working on their volunteer hours was asked to send them to the library to "get rid of the books." She said he asked what they meant and "They said they didn't care; just get them out of here."

Hair Balls tried to reach McSwain; he would only speak to us through HISD Sarah Greer Osborne. This is what she told us:

"The school library has been updated. It's got a lot of new electronic equipment. Most of it's e-books and new laptops and they're putting their money, instead of into paper, they're putting it into electronic resources.

Yes, there are still books there but most of it is now e-books where the kids can check out the book and as long as they have Internet access they can read the book. The library is now open from 6:30 to 6:30, a.m. to p.m....The kids are eating it up that's what they want. They want the e-books."

The veteran teacher wasn't as excited. "It's just stupid. It just boggles the mind. I'm sure there's more to the story and I'm sure that they can make it sound better than I'm making it sound to you but in the end it's a terrible story. There's no way in my mind that you can gloss this story and make it seem like a good idea.

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/11/lamar_highs_library_ousts_book.php

"There's no way to get hold of a book on the campus to read for pleasure or to use to write a paper. If you don't have access to a computer of your own then you have to compete for one of the computers that are in the coffee shop. And you have to find a way to get it done during the time the coffee shop is open."

The teacher said the whole thing breaks her heart; but she can walk away from it. At least she's not the Lamar High librarian, whose library has been "repurposed" (a favorite educator buzzword these days), presiding over a coffee shop with all those swell couches.

[rucky]

1. Oy Vey. n/t

[Anakin Skywalker]

2. Just a Sad Reality of the Times.

[EFerrari]

3. This is so horrible, I can't even respond to it.

lol

And don't you get the feeling that he kept a few books with sexy covers instead of keeping what isn't on line yet.

What a goon. I hope he's fired.

[dipsydoodle]

4. I suppose if you're lucky

you'll get a cup with "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" written on it.

[EFerrari]

5. At least he didn't burn them.

:yoiks:

[ThatsMyBarack]

45. Yet...

:yoiks:

[struggle4progress]

6. Lamar High library sprouts e-books

Principal's decision reflects a growing trend among libraries
By ERICKA MELLON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Nov. 29, 2010, 10:50PM

... About 11,900 books remain on the shelves at Lamar after librarian Cathy Hurst purged 13,100 from the nonfiction collection this year. Libraries regularly eliminate stale books but not nearly that many - "unless they hadn't weeded in 200 years," said Suzanne Lyons, a librarian specialist with the Houston Independent School District ...

Lamar now has about 650 electronic nonfiction books that students can access at school or via the Internet anywhere, plus another 30,000 research texts. It plans to add fiction books to its online collection within weeks ...

Alex Galmiche, a sophomore, slouched in a plush new chair reading a paper copy of a novel, The Battle of the Labyrinth, that he had bought from a bookstore. "A lot of people are getting more attached to technology," he said. "I prefer hardback books. Computers hurt my eyes after a while" ...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7316574.html

[rug]

7. I must admit, I'm torn.

[Hannah Bell]

8. torn about the coffee shop? adding computers to the library didn;t require tossing

the books.

the coffee shop required it.

[rug]

9. No, I just cannot pick sides between coffee and books.

[EFerrari]

10. This is what happens when you let food in the library.

[Hannah Bell]

14. :>) they're creating more addicts.

[Lorien]

88. Even in a high SCHOOL? that's sad. nt

[ejpoeta]

11. uggh. you know, ebooks are great as an addition to the library, but to

get rid of regular books in lieu of ebooks is just ridiculous. first of all there is that which is mentioned in the piece... access to computers and therefore access to the books. unless you are going to provide computers AND internet service for every student, then there is not equal access. then there is the issue of what if there is no electricity. now i know that probably won't happen, but one of the things one generally can do when there is no electricity is to read a book. something that only requires a book in your hands and a little light. that's it.

i can't help but wonder what got this principal to do such a thing. i would hope that the principal would find himself out on his kiester.

[TBF]

22. You can read e-books (at least Kindles) without electricity -

you only need them to have wifi when you add and delete books. You can buy little reading lights (battery that attach to them).

[Dappleganger]

51. not to mention taking it with you everywhere you go...

which is what my daughter and I both do with our ereaders. It's easier to carry around than a regular book.

[uppityperson]

59. However, it's less expensive to replace a lost or damaged or stolen book

Serious question here for you. Since I've only held/used a kindle once, why do you say it's easier to carry around than a regular book? I know you can fit more than 1 book onto it at a time, but how is it easier to carry around?

My concern would be setting it down somewhere, or being caught in the rain or some such. I see e-books as a good addition to paper books but don't understand the "easier to carry around". Thanks

[Dappleganger]

62. Mine has a cover...

it protects the reader and the screen, and flips open flat while reading. It fits inside my purse quite easily. With the cover, it's about an inch and a half thick. Most of the books I read are quite a bit heavier and larger than that size. If my husband borrows it he throws the reader into his laptop bag for work.

When you turn it on and go to your book, it picks up right where you left off. Also, if you forget your reader and have access to a smart phone, iPhone or any computer, you can read where you left off (Nook syncs all their B&N books, I'm quite sure that the Kindle does the same). The ereader has replaced ALL of our paperback books. Completely.

[uppityperson]

68. Thank you for the reply. Sounds like about the same size as a paperback

It seems like the start-up cost is more, but the books cost less e-edition than paper. Maybe after the recession is over, income starts again, I'll get one. For now, am keeping the library busy. Thanks.

[ejpoeta]

76. at some point they will need to be recharged though.

[intheflow]

67. Not to mention the number of ebooks available -

especially academic research ebooks - is much more limited than even the smallest library's reference holdings. This is about the stupidest education "reform" I've heard of.

[XemaSab]

12. There was an article floating around the other day about some dude who writes essays

for college students and in teh thread there was a link to an article from 15 years ago about a chick who did the same thing.

15 years ago that chick spent hella time at the library to crank out those essays.

The dude's essays were based entirely on teh google.

Our society has fallen. :(

[jeff47]

34. Or

Or the Internet has provided better access to information.

Just because it's "not the way things were done" doesn't mean society has fallen.

[Solly Mack]

13. I love books. The binding...the pages...the smell...touching them...reading them

:(

[cornermouse]

15. Me too.

[pipi_k]

39. Me too...for some of us, it's a total sensory experience...

I just got a Kindle in September, and I love it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to throw out all of my real books...

[Solly Mack]

55. It is indeed. I'm slow to open a book for the first time no matter how excited I am to read it.

Respect to the written word must be paid.

[Smarmie Doofus]

16. We had a "reform" principal once who fired the ...

... tenured librarian and left the library vacant for an entire school year before she got around to replacing her.

Hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars worth of computers and tech stuff sitting around getting dusty in a state of the art, newly constructed library... collecting dust.

Caroline Kennedy came one day and gave a speech about how great school reform was. Klein had given her a job as "director of fundraising", or something like that. She had been college roommates w. Klein's wife.


Oyyyy. Aye-yay-yay.

[uppityperson]

60. Our school librarian got cut a few yrs back and was appalled not at losing the job but

the fact that the principal and board didn't understand all that a librarian does. Librarians don't just monitor students in the library and check out books. Teaching how to research, giving guidance to books (fiction and non), helping students learn how to learn rather than just memorizing facts to spit back on tests, they didn't understand that.

With all the pressure to get students to perform well on tests, she couldn't understand why they thought it a good idea to make the research facility and librarian off limits. Oh yes, they also cut library hours. Each class got an hour a week during their class time with their teacher (k-6).

[Smarmie Doofus]

97. Librarian, schmibrarian. *Anyone* can do thaaaaaat! n/t

[Skidmore]

17. Scarborough just had Jeb Bush on pushing

not so much distance learning as the idea that large number of children can be taught via electronic media with fewer teachers.

[TBF]

21. I like adding technology (like the e-books), but not replacing teachers

with the on-line or tv lectures. Maybe to use in class as a supplement, but not as a replacement. Being able to have class discussion and pose questions (and more questions) is too important. They are still allowing discussion in schools, right? I'm sort of afraid to know the answer to that one.

[Erose999]

44. The growing trend in education is for all new spaces to generate revenue somehow. Here at UGA

where I work, every new building has to have a cafe or coffee shop of some sort, 50 million vending machines, or a parking deck attached to it. Its very rare that they build buildings or classroom spaces dedicated specifically to academic study any more. Our dedicated classroom buildings for the humanities are falling apart, but if they are replaced the new buildings will probably be some sort of awful multi-use crap where there isn't enough classroom space and theres noise and distractions from all the other businesses inside.

These assholes don't understand that you can't run Education like a business. The "business" will always skew to what is profitable and the teaching of students (honest to goodness classroom lecture time) doesn't make that much money.

[Vinca]

18. We don't need no stinkin' books.

:banghead:

[JCMach1]

19. This may not be a bad thing... Ebooks and online databases

are extensive even compared to a few years back...

For my university library, we are talking millions of volumes.

[MadHound]

23. And I imagine that there are millions of books in your school library that haven't been digitized,

And probably won't be digitized. Same with any library across the country, including high school libraries, there are simply volumes in print that aren't available electronically.

Meanwhile, unlike a book which you can take home, with these ebooks, if you are one of the forty percent of the people in this country who don't have computer access at home, you would have to do your reading, and researching in the middle of a coffee shop. Not very conducive to concentration.

[crikkett]

32. and who's okay with feeding kids coffee?

except the principal. When I was a kid I wasn't allowed coffee. Hell, I wasn't allowed a calculator until I was required to have one for Trig.

[Dappleganger]

47. Kids are drinking cold coffee/coffee drinks from an earlier age thanks to Starbucks.

We make it at home so at least I know they're getting the decaf version.

[Ikonoklast]

56. And here is a pewrfect example of the advancement of technology:

You got to use a calculator.


I had to use a slide rule.


One day in the near future, people will be appalled that we used to cut down trees just to make paper for books, and newsprint.

[Dappleganger]

63. Isn't that strange...

things are changing so quickly, it's hard to keep up! I'll admit the idea that we won't need to cut so many trees is very appealing.

[Lorien]

89. Yeah, those text only eBooks work great for art majors.

:eyes:

[TBF]

20. I have to admit I love my Kindle -

maybe the schools can work a discount through Amazon (or other e-tailers) to buy more of them. They are much easier to carry and it's cheap to access the classics. There could be special versions, I would think, with classics loaded on when they get them. A basic e-book is much cheaper than a laptop. I really don't see the problem with this if they can work out the funding - with 3000 kids you need more than 35 readers.

I've actually been thinking of passing mine down to my 7-yr old (she loves using it - she has read Alice in Wonderland on it) - and getting a new fancier version. Maybe for my birthday next year.

These kids are raised with technology - may as well use it for teaching.

[girl gone mad]

26. People read printed paper significantly faster than they can read e-books,

even the Kindle, which is supposed to mimic paper.

Taking 3 hours to read an assigned book instead of 2 hours can be a huge impediment to a student.

Not to mention, I don't want to read any science textbook, architecture, art or design book on an e-reader. It's simply not a comparable format.

[TBF]

28. They didn't say anything about replacing textbooks -

you're certainly right about that. I also didn't like that he got rid of actual books. Why not have both?

[Dappleganger]

52. I am sorry but that's completely untrue...

If you keep your finger on a Nook's page forward button I can whip through an ebook in far less time. Go over to mobilereads.com, there are many comments on this topic and pretty much everyone agrees that using an ebook is faster and far less cumbersome than a real book.

[girl gone mad]

98. Scientific studies have shown people read paper much faster..

than the kindle or nook. i-pad is also faster than these e-readers, but paper is the fastest.

[spin]

93. I find the Kindle far superior to reading a paper book ...

I don't believe that the speed on my reading has slowed down in the least and I can quickly find to definition of a word and even do a web search on a topic right from the Kindle.

Plus I can carry an entire library on the Kindle and cross reference easily.

[Dappleganger]

48. Not just cheap, the classics are FREE through Project Gutenberg.

And yes, I love my Nook!

[enlightenment]

83. Raised on it, my hind end. (sorry)

My college students are not computer literate AT ALL. They can text on their phones like little demons, but have no clue how to use a computer effectively. Their writing skills are abysmal, their critical thinking skills almost non-existent, and they think research means 'google' and 'wikipedia' - at a stretch, they'll locate an on-line encyclopedia and call it good.

I spend hours that should be devoted to teaching content instead teaching them both the rudiments of research techniques and the basics of writing a paper in a word processing program. The vast majority don't even know how to set margins, much less insert footnotes or pagination.

There is a mythology that because kids are exposed to technology - raised with it - that they 'get it'. That's only true if they see it as a benefit - so, yes, they are remarkably savvy about the mobile phones, MP3 players, video games, and navigating Facebook.

Actually using a computer as a tool? Not so much.

As for a physical library with real books? I've had many students tell me that they have never been inside a library. This term, one young woman was stunned to discover that her student ID card was also a library card - I guess she thought she needed special permission to check out a book. She breathlessly imparted this astonishing discovery to me . . . and then twinkled that, "the library lets you check out DVDs, too!"

yay.

[Lorien]

90. So my history of art courses would have worked HOW on a Kindle?

How about my study of the architecture of the Italian Renaissance? Ancient Greek archeology? Animal anatomy?



:banghead:

[spin]

94. Today you might be able to study those subjects on an Ipad...

The Kindle does have limitations but it is a fairly new deice that is improving by leaps and bounds.


Kindle's future? E Ink shows off color and flexible displays
Eric Engleman on Thursday, May 27, 2010, 1:03pm PDT

Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos told shareholders this week that color-screen Kindles are still "some ways out." But E Ink, the provider of e-paper display technology for the Kindle readers on the market today, is giving a glimpse of what that future might look like at the Society for Information Display Symposium in Seattle this week. Pictured here is a research prototype color e-reader that E Ink featured at the exhibition.

That research version is still about two years away, according to E Ink, but the company is planning to release a version of color screen later this year, and is also working on a flexible plastic display (video below). Will these be part of future Kindles? E Ink staff wouldn't say.

http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2010/05/kindles_future_e_ink_shows_off_color_flexible_displays.html

[NuttyFluffers]

107. it's a nightmare for language & visual design students, i'll tell you that.

there's HUGE issues with language fonts in many programs -- even unicode has hiccups. and that's to speak of nothing of poor resolution of images (especially those w/ wispy ancient cursive). throw in ancient magazines, celluloid inserts, even Nat Geos and Harper's Bazaar from 70 years ago -- all can barely (or not at all) work with scanned images. further, in an age where everything is alterable in photoshop suites, you need fixed sources (that can be validated at another library) to keep the contents of history.

anyone who thinks it's an either/or decision is woefully deficient in experiencing research in other subjects. e-readers should be INCORPORATED into the system, not replace it (just like computers, video, and audio recordings).

(this to speak of nothing of rare, limited or out-of-print texts. many of my studies had to delve in such marginal material that could only be found in large libraries. e-books was all but laughably useless. the best that could be done was find mainstream popular texts that mention the subject only tangentially and that was it. all but useless for upper division and higher college research. but this is a high school, who knows if the kids even bother with learning anything.)

[Rebubula]

24. Mixed Feelings

One one hand - I love books and reading. I love the feel and the potability of books.

On the other hand - the world is changing faster than anyone could have imagined and we need to be ready to adjust to new paradigms.

I think that most of the people that seem disgusted by this are older (like me) and like books - but this may be a generational thing. They are not censoring anything or burning books - just staying ahead of the curve.

In 10 years, I doubt that there will be more than a handful of newspapers being printed. A decade ago - this would have been unthinkable.

The world is changing - you can be part of it or you can stand around and tell these whippersnappers to get off your lawn.

[LWolf]

25. I was in a meeting with a high-school L.A. teacher yesterday,

talking about using Nooks in the classroom. He's writing a grant to buy some. We were intrigued with the possibilities. None of us suggested that it was okay to "get rid of books," though. E-book technology has a LONG way to go before that will become practical for schools and libraries. Libraries, including school libraries, are about making information accessible to ALL. Not about making it accessible to 35 people at a time during set hours, or to those who can afford technology. Schools, at least fully public schools, are supposed to be about the same.

The educational advantages? One big advantage, when it becomes possible, would be to have all textbooks needed on the Nook or other device, making lugging bulky, heavy textbooks around extinct. For now, though, this teacher mentioned his experience...anecdotal...with his 3rd grade daughter and a few of his students he used his own Nook with. He says that the Nook makes larger texts more accessible to students. For example, his daughter, who would choose reading based on the size of the book and the amount of print on the page, will now read longer, denser books because the book itself is not overwhelming. She can get it one page at a time and make the print as large as she likes. His students, a couple of boys with ADHD, read for longer periods of time with the Nook than with print. Just the act of "turning pages" more frequently, chunking large amounts of text into bigger, but less on each page, helps them stay engaged and feel like they are moving "faster" through the book.

I don't know about that. I know I'd like to experiment with it, especially when technology will combine the e-book with the audio, so that readers can listen while they read...a big support for some learning disabled students.

Personally, I love my books. I don't ever want to give them up entirely. I'd LOVE to be able to make 90% of my library digital, though. I have thousands of books. My whole house is set up to provide as much space for bookshelves as possible, and moving is a bitch. Some of the drawbacks to immediately going digital, though:

1. The purchase price of e-books; they are too high, considering that paper, ink, presses, and bindings aren't used, and they don't have to be transported by truck, plane, etc. to get where they are going.

2. The limitations: I want a reader that will read any book, no matter where I get it from. I don't want a reader associated with a seller, set up to ensure that I only get my books from that one seller.

3. Connected to # 1 and 2, I want to be able to share, to give away, etc.. I can donate my books. I can trade my books. I can share my books. That's how we get books to many who can't afford to buy their own.

4. Back up. I want a digital library that can be backed up somewhere, not for a recurring fee, so that if I drop my reader into the toilet, I don't lose my whole library. Besides, I'm sure the readers have storage limits. I need to be able to store everything somewhere, and shift titles back and forth from storage to reader to storage.

5. Longevity. As it is now, when I buy a book, unless I damage it somehow, I'll have it my whole life. It might not last hundreds of years, but it will last my lifetime. Technology? It constantly changes. I don't want to build a whole library of ebooks in one format and then find out I have to start over again in a new format. VHS, DVD.....

I don't really have to worry about this for awhile, though. After all the paycuts I've taken the last 2 years, I can't afford to buy a reader. Still, I look forward to playing with ebooks at some point in the future.

[TBF]

29. I've given away a lot of books since buying my Kindle, but saved

my very favorites of course. I sort of envisioned technology having a place alongside traditional books. I liked the idea of a "coffee shop" format - I think the kids would like that and they might spend more time reading. But why not figure out a way to save the books and rotate them through or something. I can't imagine just "getting rid of" books completely. As someone pointed out in another post, art books, science, design books, there are many subjects that wouldn't be as conducive to digital print.

I have arthritis now, however (in my 40's) and I sure appreciate my light Kindle. It was physically hard for me to hold up a large hardback book, and I can see that argument for kids lugging around heavy books as well.

[Dappleganger]

66. In complete agreement...

not to mention the fact that the ebook text is easy to change up or down depending upon one's eyesight.

[pipi_k]

105. I've saved my favorites too...

because, for one thing, some of them aren't even available on the Kindle.

And another thing...I just can't bear to give away some of my favorites. Some of them I've had to buy two or three replacements for over the years because I wear them out with repeated readings.

:)

[eilen]

30. I have an ereader-- a Kindle

and I also read ebooks on my laptop.

I have lots of books but have been cutting down my collection. All my classics, I can download for free. Google's Gutenberg Project has provided hundreds of free books. Just about every book in the Harvard Classics is free and then some.

I would prefer to have most on my ereader except for my sewing books/how to type books. I am on the fence with cookbooks however, the internet as well as computer software (like Mastercook) almost makes cookbooks superfluous. I have decreased my cookbook collection radically. I realized I only make so many dishes it is worth perfecting about 20 dishes and rotating them. I can use the internet to try new ones when I have a yen for novelty.

I am a prolific reader and books have been a major expense in my life, even with access to a library. I am rubbish at returning books on time.

I think the Ipad technology is a good solution, color, ability to embed video or links to other books etc. They just have to make it less expensive. I don't have an Ipad but the limitations of my Kindle is no color, diagrams not very clear etc. That is a no go when it comes to textbooks. With iPad type of interactive text could do it.

A great book to read is "The Diamond Age or a Young Ladies Illustrated Primer" by Neal Stephenson-- it shows what a book can be in the future. A book that can evolve with the reader over time, practically develop a relationship with you.

[Dappleganger]

Nook Color may be an answer to your problem.

Just came out for the same price as an iPod Touch ($249). Completely interactive color screen based on Android, with full internet capability.

[Dappleganger]

50. Nook Color may be an answer to your problem.

Just came out for the same price as an iPod Touch ($249). Completely interactive color screen based on Android, with full internet capability.

[Dappleganger]

49. Nook already has NookStudy...

you can use it on any computer, it allows you to write and share your notes with anyone as well as read multiple books at once. It's free and an awesome ereader program (uses Adobe's .epub format which is also used by OverDrive, the main library loaning ebook database).

[lostnfound]

27. Not censoring ..yet..nt

[Chan790]

42. I doubt this is a paradigm shift though.

For a number of reasons, which I think are rather evident as intrinsic to the medium, e-books really have zero possibility of a future outside of trade (and possibly literary) fiction and pop-non-fic. (That is, explicitly pleasure-reading texts) There are just too many titles key to study and research in just about any field that will never make it to this medium, even contemporary press offerings (that is, books coming out right-now.) are considered as non-viable for e-book format if they're expected to gross <45K copies in e-book format over "lifetime". (lifetime is defined as the reasonable period of sales profitability of a publication, usually about 3 years for a research text before it's out-of-date. Lifetimes for pop-non-fic and fiction tend towards the unlimited (for e-books), as they're limited only by the period of time the seller wishes to offer them.)

What percentage of research texts in-print is that? More than 98.7% across the board and virtually 100% in many if not most fields. That's not something expected to change as the medium matures...it's not viable for economies of scale reasons and will remain so. The cost of production of an e-book is fixed in comparison to copies sold (That is, it costs as much to produce an e-book expected to sell 1M copies as one expected to sell 25K.) and upfront unlike traditional printing; more ominously, as the technology improves, the cost to produce that e-book is rising, not falling: by 2015, that 45K in the first paragraph...might be 55K+.

[tabbycat31]

58. I would think textbooks would be the first to be digitized

Because of their cost (could a digital version save students money?) and their weight.

I'm attracted to a Kindle (I don't have one but want one) because you can subscribe to magazines on it. I LOVE magazines but hate the clutter they bring.

[Dappleganger]

64. It is changing and will continue to change.

The future is here.

[Chan790]

78. I'd argue only segmentally.

You will never see a day when e-books are the primary format for research texts, I'd be doubtful you'd ever see a day when that's true of textbooks even.

Your wishing won't overcome the reality of non-viability in those segments.

Edit: The only exception may be for interactive texts but that will never be e-book-reader tech...it's closer to limited-access-to-editing wiki than anything.

[crikkett]

31. FOR SOME REASON I JUST KNEW THIS WAS TEXAS

:banghead:

[AngryAmish]

33. Our kids are gonna look at us funny for having lots of books

The future is here. And I don't even have an ereader.

[Chan790]

43. I should hope not, being Amish and all.

Wait? What? How are you on the internet? is this like the "You can ride in a car but not drive one" thing?

[WinkyDink]

70. Well, that was my experience 30 years ago!

[Generic Other]

35. 11,000 real books replaced by 650 e-books

equals planned illiteracy. On caffeine no less.

[Lucinda]

72. That was my first thought as well..I don't know what the +30K research texts

actually refers to though...so they may actually have more info available?

[bullwinkle428]

36. Quite honestly, I looked for a link to "The Onion" at the bottom

of the post.

A very sad K&R.

[PVnRT]

37. But it's all the teachers' fault!

Somehow! Yeah!

[Stevenmarc]

38. The Culture of the Mediocre marches forward

[Dappleganger]

53. Or, they are changing to fit the new paradigm...

being in education means that you need to be on the cutting edge.

[Stevenmarc]

54. Oh good

Then they should junk the school buses for particle beam transporters, oh wait, that technology isn't quite ready yet. While ebooks are further along than transporters they still really can't replace a decent library, being cutting edge doesn't mean you completely toss out the tried and true for the half baked, one day maybe but not today.

[Dappleganger]

65. Those who push for the future are often ridiculed.

Remember when the iPod first came out and everyone said it would be a failure, that nobody would want to listen to music in that way?

[Stevenmarc]

75. Look

I built an Altair 8800 in the 70's so I'm the last person in the universe who fears technology. I enjoy ebooks and they have a huge future, however, you don't toss out every fucking book in the library when you can't come close to replacing those titles on the new technology, at this moment.

Lets say there was no such thing as an ebook and you went to a library with 11,000 books and tossed out 10,200 of them would you say that you just improved that library? No fucking way, and that's just what happened here, it's not about some grand technological leap forward, you just restricted the students to a small subset of information. There really wasn't a single good reason that the two couldn't coexist.

After all the day Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type they didn't go out and shoot all the scribes.

[Chan790]

79. I remember when my school library trashed 100 VCRs for Laserdisk players.

Along with 1000s of collection items on VHS.

In retrospect, I'm thinking they regret that. At least they still make VCRs.

[Lorien]

91. The culture of the uncultured , uneducated, brain dead CONSUMER

marches forward. George Carlin was right.

[DebJ]

40. So how does anyone do research at home if they lack a

computer?

[uppityperson]

61. Simple, you go to the library! (sarcasm)

[Starry Messenger]

41. Why throw out the books?

Ack! I like reading digital books too, but there is the risk of the technology becoming obsolete and being constantly replaced. There is a reason the book evolved to take the shape and form that it has. It's a nearly perfect invention.

[tammywammy]

73. The books removed were donated

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7316574.html

"It does hurt to lose the books because we're an old school and some of those books have been there a long time," Hurst said, noting that Lamar opened in 1937. "But we tried to find good homes for them. We gave them to the teachers and the students first of all."

Other books went to the Rotary Club and to different schools, McSwain said.

-snip-

So far, the number of books being checked out at Lamar has more than doubled to 2,933 this year, according to data from the librarian."

[Dappleganger]

46. From a major book-a-holic, this may surprise you...

although throwing out all the books seems a bit drastic, quite honestly I was surprised at how much more I read now with my Nook than with regular books. These kids are from the electronic generation (we have 4 teens) and they are eating up the ebook format like you wouldn't believe.

I don't give a damn what the format is for the book, as long as they are reading it should be encouraged.

[Lorien]

92. Um, not us art majors. Sorry, but no.

Art, architecture, medical books, archeology...am I supposed to simply READ about the art of Florence in the early 16th Century without images of any kind? How about gardening? Plant identification? Do I really need to go on?

[Dappleganger]

101. Art is definitely an exception.

But I am surprised that you think a picture in a textbook is somehow more adequate than say, an image on a large-screen computer. Or in real life, preferably? Computer screen or print, the colors are off. Forget about the dimensions!

This is from a mother who used to drag her kidlets off to do copywork at the NGA in DC when we lived up there. Nothing compares to seeing it in real life. Even those amazing reprints we paid good money for in the gallery store, then carefully placed them in large folders to study are nothing compared to IRL.

BTW, why do you think that ebooks have no images? Have you even looked through an ebook before?

[Lorien]

106. Yes I have, and the images are crap

My art books hold their value. One that I purchased for $25.00 two years ago is now worth over $200.00. How much will your eBook be worth in two years? Another art book that I bought in 1996 for $14.00 is now worth $600.00-but I use it regularly so I'm not going to sell it. I work as an artist 12-16 hours a day, and I sure as hell am NOT going to blow my eyesight squinting at some piddly ebook screen for my reference all day long. Electronics also break or wear out. Books last for hundreds of years (the oldest one I have was printed in 1647). Books win.

[NuttyFluffers]

108. OMG, think of all the data lost just by switching Operating Systems~!

there's essays from my youth working on WordPerfect on DOS that I will never see again -- thank god I kept the paper copies. granted my essays are only of sentimental value to me (and of course, mom), but the example is still valid. there's ancient video games that are just about impossible now for me to show younger friends. the OS to run them, or even just emulate them, are so far gone that they are essentially lost. MoO2 is a great example of original coding almost completely lost -- and if it wasn't for the heroic efforts of a very dedicated community the game would be more of a mythical experience trapped on a few aging machines and fading personal memories.

no, there's something very valuable about easily accessible hard copies.

[Dappleganger]

103. BTW, med students

are regularly using iPads now, as well as reading .pdf's on a regular basis. Any ebook or tablet which can read .pdf's can handle those kind of images. With an iPad you can pinch and expand, then interact with additional information while being able to do other tasks at the same time (with the latest update).

The Nook Color which was just released also has interactive capability (Android-based, and the firmware was just rooted). It does ebooks, .pdf's, internet browsing.

[bluetrain]

57. He should be fired. He has no business being near a school.

[WinkyDink]

69. ...Let me count the ways.....Not the least of which is: How DARE this man destroy what WAS NOT HIS!

Those books were paid for by THE TAX-PAYERS. Could the principal not have offered them the wares in a book-sale at least?

Secondly, the man is completely ignorant of the ACADEMIC SETTING he purports to LEAD. Clearly, this fool thinks two things: His cockamamie innovation will garner him a pay raise; and his mind-boggling destruction will catapult him to some kind of media fame. He probably sees a made-for-TV movie in his future.

But then, I speak as one who has books piled everywhere: shelving; desk-tops; floor. Everywhere!

[tammywammy]

71. I don't think he destroyed them

According to this article:
'"It does hurt to lose the books because we're an old school and some of those books have been there a long time," Hurst said, noting that Lamar opened in 1937. "But we tried to find good homes for them. We gave them to the teachers and the students first of all."

Other books went to the Rotary Club and to different schools, McSwain said.

-snip-

So far, the number of books being checked out at Lamar has more than doubled to 2,933 this year, according to data from the librarian.'

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7316574.html


Also it appears that switching to the ebooks is increasing the usage of the school's library.

[WinkyDink]

99. Oh, sure; mention the positive stuff. :-)

[Morning Dew]

74. Now that's a forward thinking Principal -

putting a coffee shop in the school so his students can prepare for their future coffee shop careers.

[Chan790]

80. I hope he's look forward...

to his impending unemployment.

[tammywammy]

95. Why would they fire him when library usage has doubled?

"So far, the number of books being checked out at Lamar has more than doubled to 2,933 this year, according to data from the librarian."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7316574.html

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

77. Buffy, Giles and the Scoobies got kicked out too (n/m)

[Mimosa]

81. There is information in 'old books' which has never made it to the web

Old books are where one can search for original 'source' links, built up through generations.

[Kablooie]

82. A day is coming when huge amounts of computer data become inaccessible.

It will have been stored on old deteriorated media or be in archaic data formats that can't be read.
Data from the 60's and 70's has already disappeared for these reasons.
Many photos and books that we have access to today will be gone forever.

Paper books and photos from centuries before now will still remain.

[dipsydoodle]

84. Exactly

Closest anology I could think of was those who had their weddings done on video tape which deteriorates with age compounded by lack of use - it sets.

Within reason books are forever : data may not be so.

[dipsydoodle]

85. K & R.

I'm really appalled that anyone could be so stupid.

[JackRiddler]

86. Hey Hannah, this thread on another board may interest you...

The War On Teachers
http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=30319


Reposted this piece here:
http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=30319&p=368835#p368835

[Hannah Bell]

87. thanks for that.

[reggie the dog]

96. I've been living in Europe for too long

when I hear coffee shop i get a whole dutch image in my mind, i have to think that a dutch style coffeehouse in a high school would make a shitload of money, especially if the age to get in was only 14.

[WinkyDink]

100. I offer to "chaperone". ;-)

[snot]

102. K&R'd

[KamaAina]

104. Well, the kids'll feel right at home

when they graduate barely literate, and end up working in a Starbucks. :eyes: