New England Prep School Tosses Its Library Collection

Cushing Academy, the nation’s oldest co-ed boarding school, hopes to be a model for 21-century learning by getting rid of its entire library print collection.

The 144-year-old school, located near Boston in Ashburnham, MA, is giving away or tossing its 20,000 book collection for 18 digital readers, enhanced electronic databases, flat-screen TVs, and laptop-equipped study cubicles—at a cost of about $500,000.

Cushing headmaster James Tracy explained that the library is the "nicest space on campus" and that bookshelves wasted precious space that could be put to better use. The library will be transformed into an interactive learning center, faculty lounge, with a $50,000 cyber café and $12,000 cappuccino machine.

"Students never open a book in the library," Tracy told School Library Journal, pointing to an in-house study that shows an average of 48 books in circulation on any given day, 30 of which are juvenile books checked out by the children of faculty members.

It’s unclear however, whether the library’s staff agreed to create a virtual learning center without any books. According to Tracy, the decision came after a committee of eight, including library director, Elizabeth Vezina, explored the future of the school’s Fisher-Watkins Library and decided e-books was the way to go.

But other sources, who did not wish to be identified, say the library staff was left out of discussions.

"It makes me sad,’’ Vezina, who has spent the last 13 year introducing students to books, told the Boston Globe. "I’m going to miss them. There’s something lost when they’re virtual. There’s a sensual side to them—the smell, the feel, the physicality of a book is something really special.’’

About half of the library’s 20,000-book collection already has been donated to the libraries of nearby schools in low-income areas, and the remainder will be withdrawn from the collection this year, Tracy says.

The decision to replace books with e-readers has no doubt sparked discussion among librarians. Janet Gross, a librarian at the Corlears School in New York City, who teaches summer sessions at Cushing, wrote on LM_NET, a discussion board for media specialists, "I have long loved their library, their collection, and their librarians. I was horrified this summer to see the dismantling of a really excellent collection."

Tracy defends the move. "We are passionate bibliophiles," he says, explaining that the move will give students access to millions of e-books. "Students can still go to Barnes & Noble if the want to be surrounded by books."

Despite wiping out a print library, Tracy still believes that a "librarian will be more important than ever" by working collaboratively with other educators to teach students how to navigate and use digital information.

There are also plans to add a Director of Media/Academic Technology Integration to design, implement, and oversee the library’s transition to a modern interactive media center. And while Tracy gave the impression that this person would work alongside Vezina, over the weekend the library director and her two support staffers’ names were removed from library’s Web site.

Vezina says she and her staff teach "students to become critical thinkers, and thoughtful and ethical consumers of information, helping them achieve academic success, promoting a love of reading, and inspiring them to become lifelong learners," in this era of 21-century learning. "Whether we do this using books or Kindles, the reference section, or strictly online resources, our mission remains the same. My staff and I are committed to helping our students in whatever ways we can."

Gerri Fegan, a librarian at West Middle School in Andover, MA, who is also president of the Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA), says on behalf of the MSLA executive board that the decision to eliminate Cushing’s library books is premature and not in the best interest of its students.

"An exemplary school library program provides students with equitable access to information in all formats and focuses not on the technology, but on ensuring that all students acquire the skills they need to select, evaluate, and use information appropriately and effectively," she says.