From the Bell Tower: This Is Preparing Them for College Research?
By Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA Jun 10, 2010Any academic librarian would surely support and applaud efforts to better prepare students for college-level research. We are all for strategies at the K-12 level to orient students to what they can expect at their college or university library. You might think that means introducing students to the full range of content, in all formats, offered by the academic library. And you'd be right, except if you were talking about the Cushing Academy. Cushing, of course, is the independent school that decided to eliminate the vast majority of books from its collection. According to the original Boston Globe article that garnered so much attention, mostly negative from the library community, Cushing decided that instead of a library:
...the academy is spending nearly $500,000 to create a "learning center,'' though that is only one of the names in contention for the new space. In place of the stacks, they are spending $42,000 on three large flat-screen TVs that will project data from the Internet and $20,000 on special laptop-friendly study carrels. Where the reference desk was, they are building a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine.
We prepare them for college research
Just as we were forgetting about Cushing, the Boston Globe decided to put Headmaster James Tracy, who decided that books had no future at Cushing, back in the spotlight. In a decidedly unusual move the Globe turned a letter to the editor from Tracy into a followup article about the Cushing Academy Library. Tracy's letter was in reaction to the Globe's article about the Harvard Library's transition to the digital age, and he sought to share the success of his decision to eliminate the library's books. The Globe quoted his thoughts on the bookless library:
"It has become the hub where students and faculty gather, learn, and explore together," he said, noting that the library increased its staff as it transitioned to a "digital format."
After you invest $500,000 into any space, you better attract a crowd, but let's give Tracy the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps, for Cushing, eliminating the books resulted in some institutional improvement. But Tracy went further. Not only does he think his move improved the library, he also believes:
"The best universities are making this transition," Tracy said. "What we feel we're doing at Cushing is preparing students for the skill sets they need to do research in the best libraries."
"We're able to actually teach students in preparation for college: Don't just Google somebody, but rather go to a database that has peer-reviewed journals, and make sure you're using the best sources available..."
Say what?
Let's break that statement down. What "best universities" are pulling a "Cushing" by transitioning to a no books library? There are an extremely limited number of examples of new academic libraries going bookless. Is Tracy referring to Harvard, which, according to the Globe article to which he was responding, is merely confronting the possibility it can no longer purchase every book published? That's a far cry from transitioning to a bookless library. And while Tracy is correct that teaching students there's more to research than Google will help them at the college level, he displays a clear lack of understanding about the importance of print books for higher-level academic research. There are disciplines where access to print books is less essential, but in the humanities and social sciences it is critical to quality research.
Tracy also fails to show awareness of the primary research content held in the academic library's special collections. I would invite Mr. Tracy to prepare his students for, oh say, a rigorous college-level assignment to critically analyze how 13th century architectural philosophy in China influenced 20th century modernist architecture. A book is absolutely going to help with such a project, but if you never encounter one in your prep school library how well prepared are you to think about using one?
Been to an academic library lately?
If the headmaster thinks his strategy is preparing Cushing students for college, perhaps he should read this Chronicle article about the renovation of the Ohio State University (OSU) Library. It clarifies the importance of designing a library that makes obvious to students that books are still at the core of what the library is about, and then facilitates student access to those books. Just read what Carol Diedrichs, dean of OSU Library, had to share:
Early one recent morning she had already seen about 20 books lined up in a book truck, ready for reshelving. "We like to talk about how everything is digital, but it's not entirely," she says. The marriage of study spaces with a prominent place for print is "like being at the intellectual crossroads of our campus," she says. "Students say, 'I am reminded of why I am at the university.'"
I believe many academic librarians would argue that Tracy is misguided in his beliefs about what best prepares secondary school students for college-level research. When Tracy makes his statements about the radical change at the Cushing Library, he simply demonstrates how out of touch he is with academic research. It's more than pointing students to databases with peer-reviewed content. It's about educating them to understand all of their options in a crowded and confused information landscape, and helping them to think critically about making the right choices.
Eliminating books from the equation may simplify life for Cushing's administrators, but it does its students a disservice-even if they really love that $12,000 cappuccino machine. When they get to college believing books are no longer relevant to the research process they're going to be in for a rude awakening.
Steven Bell is Associate University Librarian, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. For more from Steven visit his blogs, Kept-Up Academic Librarian, ACRLog and Designing Better Libraries or visit his web site.
