Cushing Academy to close its library!

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Check out today's Boston Globe (sorry I cannot provide a link).</p>

<p>It's going to be digital, online, electronic reading for Cushing students -- how warm and cozy! All the academy's books, except some rare ones, will be done away with...</p>

<p>Is this the future or are books like old architecture -- nice (enriching) to have around even if their utility has waned? -- I think the latter.</p>

2

<p>this is the beginning of the end for cushing academy</p>

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<p>[A</a> library without the books - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/04/a_library_without_the_books/]A”>http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/04/a_library_without_the_books/)</p>

4

<p>Save me from the future if this is what it portends. There is absolutely no substitute for a book. I feel sorry for the students, they may not even know what they are missing. And if the school is going to use Kindle etc, why buy only 18.</p>

5

<p>Thats horrible. I am an avid reader. Thats one of the reasons I am applying for Exeter (big library)</p>

6

<p>Oh no, technology!!!</p>

<p>THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END!!!</p>

7

<p>I wonder if Fahrenheit 451 is on their reading list?</p>

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<p>I heard a story on NPR about Amazon illegally selling copies of a book that they thought was in public domain, but turns out, wasn’t. Their solution was to delete the file from everyone’s Kindle. (These things are linked through 3G networks. You’re able to download new books anywhere that there is cell phone reception.) So, the next time a user with the illegal book (that they paid for) contacted the mother ship at Amazon, Amazon deleted the file from their Kindles.</p>

<p>The illegally sold book? 1984</p>

<p>Neither the interviewer nor the law expert that was being interviewed mentioned the irony on NPR. </p>

<p>NYTimes did, however: <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>^ Big Brother is watching…
I heard a guy put all his AP Lit notes on there and when they all deleted because they deleted the book he sued them.
(@sannibel) That’s a good question becuase I just read that over the summer!!! By the way do you live in FL?</p>

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<p>I think this is a terrible mistake for Cushing.</p>

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<p>I visit SW Florida often, but do not live there.</p>

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<p>My children wouldn’t even consider going to a school without a library.</p>

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<p>I realize that libraries are not used as much as they used to be used. But that doesn’t mean that they are expendable. I’ve been on college tours lately, and all the colleges still proudly include their libraries on tours. And there are students in the libraries researching and studying. We adults remember all the predictions about the paperless office which decades later still hasn’t happened. I have to say that this is a poor decision, and I’m surprised that the Board of Trustees went along with it.</p>

<p>Here is their new initiative <a href=“http://www.cushing.org/21c/home.shtml[/url]”>http://www.cushing.org/21c/home.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.21school.ox.ac.uk/about/affiliates.cfm[/url]”>http://www.21school.ox.ac.uk/about/affiliates.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_James_Martin_21st_Century_School[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_James_Martin_21st_Century_School&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Great links Burb Parent, thanks. The collaboration with Oxford sounds like a great initiative, but still don’t understand how retaining a library full of books stands in the way of this partnership.</p>

<p>I took a tour last week of the new library just built on George School’s campus. It is an architectural beauty. Encompassing a massive library, five classrooms, and a learning center, the more than 26,400-square-foot structure has a number of green features, including a vegetative roof garden and geothermal heating and cooling systems. The building is well on track to earn a gold-level LEED certification. Still, with all of this forward-thinking, environmentally sound architecture, they’ve managed to hold on to a book or two. </p>

<p>I wish some CA parents or students would chime in. I’d be interested in hearing their perspectives.</p>

15

<p>(tl;dr)</p>

<p>That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Honestly, how could anyone agree to that? The headmaster should be fired.</p>

<p>Think about it: say you get the actual copy of the New York Times every time it comes up. In about 10 years, you’ll have a huge collection. No one can take it away, you own it.</p>

<p>However, think about buying it digitally. One day you stop your subscription to the New York Times. What happens? Everything is gone. There’s no way to retrieve it, no way to look back at it.</p>

<p>Only buying 18 Kindles, for a student body of how many? What, are 50 kids going huddle around 1 or 2 kindles? They only buy 18, yet can afford to pay for a 60,000 dollar coffee shop. Hmmmmm.</p>

<p>Lets see, reading books digitally. When you read digitally, you’re more likely to skim. For some (myself include) staring at a digital screen makes me tired. It’s much much harder to take notes, to flip back and forth to pages – you can’t take a kindle to a beach and get it sandy or wet.</p>

<p>What happens if there’s a power outage, or Amazon gets a bug in their system? What if Amazon decides that they don’t like a certain book, maybe it has “strong themes” not to be encouraged and they delete it? </p>

<p>If I was a student there I would drop out. I love my laptop and my ipod and my phone, but that doesn’t stop me from realizing this is a horrible idea.</p>

<p>How about instead of doing away with a library because no one checks out books, make the kids actually like to read? Giving kids these oh so warm and cozy kindles won’t help them at all (though I do suspect it’ll help the coffers of the school).</p>

16

<p>really sad</p>

<p>[YouTube</a> - A world Without Books](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW8wa8rjsDM]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW8wa8rjsDM)</p>

17

<p>is an under-endowed, third tier school with a so-so campus in a poor location.
It has been trying for years to differentiate itself from its “peers”, with little succes. This is a grandstand play that fif predict will fail. </p>

<p>Chant at games v. Cushing: “We’ve got books!”</p>

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<p>[Cushing</a> | Live chat on Boston.com](<a href=“http://www.cushing.org/misc/library-live-chat.shtml]Cushing”>http://www.cushing.org/misc/library-live-chat.shtml)</p>

<p>And notice the explanation at the end – </p>

<p>

</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cushing.org/misc/library.shtml[/url]”>http://www.cushing.org/misc/library.shtml&lt;/a&gt;
It’s supposed to be a college prep school.</p>

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<p>“…only Dr. Tracy’s responses were visible”</p>

<p>Well, assuming this was truly a tech issue, how will the IT team handle the server onslaught when 400 kids simultaneously attempt to ‘log into their books’ during mid-terms or finals? Posting chat threads isn’t exactly rocket science, is it?</p>

<p><<no offense=“” cc=“” administrators=“”>></no></p>

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<p>Cushing prefers the verb “transforming” over “killing” in reference to its bibliocide: </p>

<p>[Cushing</a> | Academics | Library](<a href=“http://www.cushing.org/academics/library.shtml]Cushing”>http://www.cushing.org/academics/library.shtml)</p>