Prep School Does Away With Books, Prefers Kindles and Cappuccinos

by Mike Smith · 2009-09-25 07:00:00 UTC
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A prep school in Massachusetts is doing away with books, and switching entirely to an electronic library. Of course, e-books are better for research, quick searching, and a good deal lighter to lug around, but are students losing something valuable by having an education without paper books?

The Headmaster of prep-school Cushing Academy explained his decision the Boston Globe, saying “when I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books." The Globe rightly point out that there is a lot likely to be lost in a world where "students can no longer browse rows of voluptuous books, replete with glossy photographs, intricate maps, and pages dog-eared by generations of students." Whilst an author calls it "a tremendous loss for students."

The library reference desk is being replaced with a $50,000 coffee shop with $12,000 cappuccino machine. The only progress I can be sure if is that there will be a good deal more students addicted caffeine before they even reach college!

[Photo credit: Richard Masoner]

Mike Smith is associate editor at Change.org.
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