Posted on 06/24/2010 10:46:40 AM PDT by JoeProBono
BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) -- Students who wished their school librarians a nice summer on the last day of school may be surprised this fall when they're no longer around to recommend a good book or help with homework.
As the school budget crisis deepens, administrators across the nation have started to view school libraries as luxuries that can be axed rather than places where kids learn to love reading and do research.....
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
I get books, magazines and DVDs from my local public library all the time. It's just two blocks away and surrounded by a nice park. I really enjoy it.
When I was a kid the school libraries doubled as community public libraries and anyone could use them. Sometime in the early 90s, the community grew anxious over the ease at which anyone could freely wander around the halls of a school and restricted library use to only students while funding a neighborhood public library off school grounds that everyone could use.
I read the AP story. AP has no shame. It’s as left-wing and dishonest as the NEA.
So it plays along with the PR spin. If they said, “Budget cuts mean we have to fire administrators,” people would say, “Good news.”
The story mentions cutting librarians so that class size won’t have to be increased. As if these are only options anybody could think of.
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Thanks JoeProBono. E-books ping, Pages digest header. |
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Libraries as we know them are an endangered species. With the advent of all gadgets electronic, they are an expensive space to maintain. Methinks in the future, if you want to read a book (paper version) you will have to go to the museum.
I am of conflicted opinions. I deeply feel that libraries as we have known them must be preserved. I love books. I like to hold a book while I read. There is something aesthetic to having a book at your fingertips. Children learning to read do better with multi-sensory approach, including holding a book and pointing to words as they go.
Then again, I love the concept of the e-readers like Kindle, Nook, and yes, even the iPad. The idea that I can carry my entire library electronically on a handheld device is beyond awesome. Having virtual libraries in schools is a great idea. It saves space, time, and money in the long run.
In the future, as in the past, owning books will be a sign of wealth. Currently, paperbacks are cheap. Hardbacks are not so cheap, but still affordable. However, with all the ‘green’ery going on, I would be surprised if printed books did not become collectors’ items and a relic of the past. Our society is well on its way already to becoming paperless. Why not include the school library?
blech.
Reality imitating fiction... Star Trek here we come.
There is about $33 million left in the “General Fund.” Out of the 60 programs funded there, 30 or more are ones mandated by the state and feds over which there is no discretion. Most of these have no employees attached to them - things like paying for Court-appointed attorneys, General Assistance, indigent burial.
The public libraries are in the remaining 30 with the sheriff, District Attorney, Public Defender, Auditor, Tax Collector, Assessor, Clerk -etc. There just wasn't enough money to cover basic functions of public safety and government. Libraries are a non-mandated, non-essential program. If the public wants them in these lean times, they need to fund them with a special property assessment. I am not saying they aren't of great value, they are just secondary in basic government function to peace and safety.
In California, the role of the school library is just changing. It’s the information center, being the “heart” of electronic info as well as the traditional library stuff.
Nine months...no longer. Not only are actual school years longer, teachers also have to continue their education as long as they teach. This is done in the summer—and is usually about two weeks.
AND...Teachers are unemployed—and unpaid—for their summer vacations.
It’s much more than just “teaching computers.” PLUS...there is still the traditional librarian job to be done.
It is anticipated that Kindel-type readers will soon be issued to each student, and the library will still be the center of related logistics.
Kindel-esque tools will become the students’ “backpacks.”
Too true. Schools are already trying by issuing kids laptops and having them preloaded with electronic textbooks.
That said, I am not opposed to the idea of having some coursework on laptops/computers. We use Teaching Textbooks and Apologia’s General Science on the computer. These can be easily accomplished on something like a Kindle. The portability aspect is extremely attractive, especially for learning on the go. I always thought that the PSP and DS were underutilized as educational tools.
I’m excited about the Kindle concept! My guess is that schools will start using them in the next five years, or so. It will be a HUGE cost saver, in the end!
When the power goes out the lights at the library won’t work either. It isn’t obvious to me that you need libraries with the Gutenberg project, Amazon.com, and Ebay sitting around.
I hope they don’t distribute kindle readers.
That would really destroy the library.
It will change the library, but I don’t see it as destroying it.
Other people do kindle downloads better.
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