I really did not want you to have to start the weekend this way, but I just can't believe this.
I have no words.
Neither, apparently, will this school library when they're finished with it.
It will have a $50,000 coffee shop and a $12,000 espresso machine. You've heard stories like this one before: it's not a high school library where one is expected to browse, to read, and to learn; it's just another groovy place for a frappuccino, and an expensive frappuccino at that.
As a former teacher, I have no words (except expletives) for any
educator who says things like, "When I look at books, I see an outdated
technology, like scrolls before books."
Mind you, it's not the first time I've heard such a sentiment expressed, and it's true that there are many who have accepted the hypothesis that electronic information is superior to printed books, and who believe that if this is so, then books should be discarded. That said, I'd like to point out that one important difference between the replacement of papyrus with print and the replacement of books with electronic information might be that society didn't deliberately discard and destroy scrolls when books came along.
If I lived anywhere near this so-called library, I would be very tempted to find a way to shut off the electricity and see how Mr. Tracy handles that scenario. If this is the future, I'll continue to live in the past, surrounded by my books.
Very Sad. But I foresee that this will eventually happen at some of the school libraries in Singapore too. They're now migrating from conventional textbooks to laptops as teaching and learning materials. Even home works are submitted thru the internet. So I don't see a reason why not. It's just a matter of time, especially when newest, hottest technology is very much embraced here.
I won't say books are going to be obsolete. This will never be the case. They are here to stay.