Naturally, as with any new technology, there are lovers and there are haters. I have found that talking about e-books in professional meetings, staff rooms, friends and family, there is a large rift of those who have e-readers and use them regularly, and those who look at you with a look of astonishment that you are contributing to the destruct of reading as an institution. I happen to fall under the e-reader-lover title. Granted, I tend to be a bit of a bandwagon jumper, but this one made sense. Who could hate a device that could give you the freedom to carry a library around with you, read it anywhere you wish, purchase books online wherever you are and have a vast library of free reading material? Apparently lots.
Surprisingly I have encountered young and old who are dead-set against e-readers. Some of the opinions are “you can’t beat the feeling of a book in your hands” (my mother) or “I do not wish to contribute to the demolition of Libraries” (my aunt). However, you cannot turn on the news or attend a Library meeting without hearing about e-readers.
In the business of school Libraries, I have looked forward to embracing this new technology as what I can only term as an “information savior” in that schools will actually be able to afford textbooks and books that are current and easily upgraded. No more rooms devoted to outdated and un-used dust collectors. Books will not be lost since there is no physical book to lose- it just automatically gets sent back to the database. And if a student just happens to read a few ‘free’ classics because ‘Hey! It was free!?’ Then so be it.
In Eric Hellman’s article “At the Tipping Point” he outlines many of these advantages and brings into the debate whether e-books pose a real threat to Libraries. Despite the ease of locating material anywhere at anytime without setting foot in a library he agues, “now more than ever, children need to learn how to find, access, evaluate, and interact with digital information Devices don’t make that happen by themselves, even if they come with thousands of carefully selected books” (Hellman, 23). This in a nutshell is where informational technology (e-readers included) is heading and the job of a Teacher-Librarian is being veered towards. As information experts (just as they always have been) A TL’s job will be to teach not only how to use this technology but how to critically discern what is available. To that point, e-readers will not be the downfall of Libraries, but will be a tool to pass love of literature to a new generation (and recharge older ones). This is what excites me about working as a Teacher Librarian – embracing the new while still respecting the traditions of information storehouses.
Hellman, E. (2010). At the Tipping Point; Libraries, Ebooks, and Competition. Library Journal 135(13) 2-23. Retrieved January 23, 2012, from ProQuest. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/818699157/fulltext?accountid=14656
