Has anyone ever asked you why we still need libraries because e-books are the wave of the future? Or perhaps you have a golden opportunity to renovate your library and you're wondering if you really need all those books since e-books don't take up any space!
I am 1/2 way through a $100,000 renovation myself and have been asked these questions - and many like them - multiple times. I have come up with the following arsenal of responses and thought they might come in handy for you:
1. When surveyed,
children still prefer physical books to e-devices when it comes to
reading. It's adults, not children, that
are on the upward trend for e-reading.
(Try to find that study to give that statement merit).
2. Even if you do
end up entirely digital, will there be a guaranteed budget for the purchase,
maintenance, and updating of whatever e-devices are purchased moving forward? If e-devices aren't purchased because you're
BYOD, than you have to only use a program that can be used on any device (like
follett shelf). It's a great program,
but whenever you stick with one publisher there are always exclusions and you'd
need someway of surmounting that difficulty.
In short, you'd be depriving your students for a higher cost. (They never like hearing that you'd be
wasting money).
3. From a
percentage perspective an extremely small amount of the world's knowledge has
been digitized. Yes much of the latest
fiction has been, but not always, and NOT non-fiction. I would share with them how many of your volumes
you'd be depriving your students if you
went all digital.
4. Explain the
all-out-war that is currently going on with publishing companies in regards to
the price points of e-books. Most
non-librarians have no idea that some books are single access while others are
simultaneous access. They also don't
know that from book to book, it is almost always more expensive to go with the
digital version, even if it's single-use.
If you were able to completely replace your library digitally, I would guess
it would be 30%-50% more expensive than just going with hard copy. This is another great argument for the
district that is trying to save.
5. You can also
talk to them about the psychology of color and how the mind is stimulated
through images, especially for young learners!
What would an entirely digital library look like? Rows of shelves holding devices? Where are the images that are going to
inspire kids to read? Would you have
giant TV's scrolling book trailers (which is more money)? Book covers are too integral to readers
advisory and literacy in general to ignore.
6. Even if you
went entirely digital, the common core has an undeniable focus on collaborative
learning now. You'll need more space
even just to accommodate that; lots of soft and flexible seating to serve a
wide range of educational uses.
7. Remind them
that we also need to serve the differentiated learner. Whenever a classroom - including the library
- only chooses to do anything ONE WAY, there are serious ramifications. Just as some lessons are flipped, some are lectures,
some are socratic, etc., the library needs to have audio, visual, and tactile
components to be the most effective.
8. Leave them with
this quote: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not
be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and
relearn. ”― Alvin Toffler. It's not
about getting the latest gadget. It's
about being part of a society that constantly unlearns and relearns. If you buy all in to one way, your students will
not be exposed to another. They need to
be able to use a table of contents AND CTRL-F.
They need e-books AND audio books AND picture books AND podcasting
equipment AND video editing software AND AND AND!
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