1. LIB 601 Libraries and Learning Fall 2012
what are libraries and
what are they good for?

2. 2
What is a Library?
OK, What is a Library?
“A truly great library contains
something in it to offend everyone.”
• Jo Godwin
“If you want to get laid, go to
college. If you want an education, go
to the library.”
• Frank Zappa
– Online Dictionary of Quotations

3. 3
Library?
“You see, I don’t believe that libraries
should be drab places where people sit in
silence, and that’s been the main reason
for our policy of employing wild animals
as librarians.”
• Monty Python skit
Gorilla Librarian

4. 4
Dictionary definition of Library?
Main Entry: li·brary
Pronunciation: 'lI-"brer-E; British usually
and US sometimes -br&r-E; US sometimes -
brE, ÷-"ber-E
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -brar·ies
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin
librarium, from Latin, neuter of librarius of
books, from libr-, liber inner bark, rind, book
1 a : a place in which literary, musical, artistic, or
reference materials (as
books, manuscripts, recordings, or films) are kept
for use but not for sale b : a collection of such
materials
2 a : a collection resembling or suggesting a library
<a library of computer programs> <wine library>
b : MORGUE 2

5. How do librarians define it?
library
A collection or group of collections of books
and/or other print or nonprint materials
organized and maintained for use
(reading, consultation, study, research, etc.).
Institutional libraries, organized to facilitate
access by a specific clientele, are staffed by
librarians and other personnel trained to
provide services to meet user needs. By
extension, the room, building, or facility that
houses such a collection, usually but not
necessarily built for that purpose.

6. But what are they for?
What are libraries for?
Are they cultural storehouses that contain the
best that has been thought and said? Or are
they more like actual stores, responding to
whatever fickle taste or Mitch Albom
tearjerker is all the rage at this very moment?
If the answer is the latter, then why must we
have government-run libraries at all? There's a
fine line between an institution that aims to
edify the public and one that merely uses tax
dollars to subsidize the recreational habits of
bookworms.
• Checked Out: A Washington-area library tosses out
the classics by JOHN J. MILLER reproduced on
blog Carpe Libra Jan. 3, 2007

7. One possible model
The Library as a Dictionary
Instead of embracing this doomed
model, libraries might seek to differentiate
themselves among the many options readers
now have, using a good dictionary as the model.
Such a dictionary doesn’t merely describe the
words of a language--it provides proper
spelling, pronunciation and usage. New words
come in and old ones go out, but a reliable
lexicon becomes a foundation of linguistic
stability and coherence. Likewise, libraries
should seek to shore up the culture against the
eroding force of trends.
• Checked Out: A Washington-area library tosses out the
classics

8. Why bother, though?
What about the
internet?
Libraries will have a
crucial role for years to
come no matter how much
of recorded human knowledge makes its way
onto the Internet. No one has yet come up with
a proven method of preserving digital
information for a century or more, and the
explosion of knowledge and information
abetted by the digital revolution makes the
organizing and cataloging skills of librarians
ever more valuable.
• “Do Libraries Still Matter?”

9. What about School Libraries?
School Library
A library in an elementary or
secondary public school, charter school
or non-profit private school serving
some combination of grades K-12. Some
also serve pre-kindergarten (PK), or
may be combined with a public library
or branch.
• Colorado Librarian's Survival Guide
• Glossary

10. 10
History of School Libraries
Not very well known!
Although the American public school
library is one of this nation’s most
ubiquitous educational institutions, we
know very little about its history.
• First sentence of:

11. Yet, it’s a long history!
Over 1,000 years:
. . . there is considerable evidence for the
existence of libraries in schools in England (and
in some other European countries) from at least
the 8th century; in the United States from the
18th century; and in Australia from the early to
mid-19th century.
. . . , Charles Hoole, advocate of the use of
library books by pupils in their day-to-day
school work, would have had little difficulty in
1660 with the “modern” concept of the school
library as “the centre of the school.”
• Clyde, L. A. (1999, January). “The schole lybrarie: Images
from our past.” School Libraries Worldwide, 5, 1.

12. 12
A Pioneer of School Librarianship
 Hannah Logasa (1879-1967)
 General objectives of the library
study-room:
1. To serve as the laboratory and
workroom of the school
2. To make available library
material for the use of teachers
and pupils
3. To coöperate with all departments of the school
in the carrying out of their objectives
4. To serve as the centralizing agency in the plan
of school organization
– The High School Library: Its Function in
Education (1928)

13. A mid-20th Century View

17. 17

18. Is it a library if it has no books?
“Instead of a
traditional library with
20,000 books, we’re
building a virtual
library where students
will have access to
millions of books,’’ said
Tracy, whose office
shelves remain lined
with books. “We see
this as a model for the
21st-century school.’’
See the defense A Library
Transformed from Cushing
Academy’s own library
website

19. What does ALA say?
Keith Michael Fiels, executive director
of the American Library Association:
“Unless every student has a Kindle and
an unlimited budget, I don’t see how that
need is going to be met,’’ Fiels said.
“Books are not a waste of space, and they
won’t be until a digital book can tolerate
as much sand, survive a coffee spill, and
have unlimited power. When that
happens, there will be next to no
difference between that and a book.”
• Welcome to the library. Say goodbye to the books.
The full article is in pdf here

20. Another reaction
William Powers, author of “Hamlet’s
Blackberry: Why Paper is Eternal”:
“There are modes of learning and
thinking that at the moment are only
available from actual books,’’ he said.
“There is a kind of deep-dive, meditative
reading that’s almost impossible to do on a
screen. Without books, students are more
likely to do the grazing or quick reading
that screens enable, rather than be by
themselves with the author’s ideas.”
• Welcome to the library. Say goodbye to the books.

21. Do School Libraries Need Books?
The library without books A library with books
Do schools need to maintain traditional
libraries? What are the educational
consequences of having students read less on
the printed page and more on the Web?
– February 10, 2010, 7:00 pm

22. www.animationfactory.com