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Amy Crouse LI855XJ Collection Development and Management A s s i gn m e n t 1 : E n v i r o n m en t a l S c a n September 4, 2011

Article Summary The Changing Role of the School Librarys Physical Space Summary

Tom Corbett uses the article The Changing Role of the School Librarys Physical Space (2011), to describe how the faculty and administrators of Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, reformatted their library to a totally electronic institution and changed the physical space to better serve the needs of the students and faculty at this private high school. The goal of the study was to make the library more accessible to students while continuing to offer both digital and print-based i n f o r m a t i o n . Th e l i b r a r i a n s s e t t h r e e g o a l s t o a c c o m p l i s h t h i s t a s k : they chose to leave the traditional ILS system and move towards a s y s t e m t h a t w o r k s b e t t e r w i t h t h e n e w e r w e b s e r v i c e s . Th e y w a n t e d to come up with a digital acquisitions model. They also wanted to change the actual library into a work area that would serve as a gathering place for students to share with one another. Along with these goals was also a focus on maintaining an environment where patrons could focus their research and still find a book to read for enjoyment. Each student was given a laptop as well as a Kindle. Textbooks were downloaded automatically to the students

Article Summary

computers for each class. Any required reading was downloaded to the Kindle. Students were also encouraged to read for their own enjoyment with any books of interest provided to them as well. Opinion I think the article was very well-written and the study very v a l u a b l e . Wh e n I f i r s t s t a r t e d r e a d i n g , t h e s t u d y m a d e m e s a d t h a t t h e s t u d e n t s w o u l d n e v e r e x p e r i e n c e a p h y s i c a l l i b r a r y s p a c e . Th e administrators chose to turn the actual library building into a work study area where students could gather and collaborate. A coffee shop was added to facilitate the group atmosphere. I felt like I was reading about a second student union area. I also found it interesting that the library subscribes to a Patron Driven Acquisitions model which requires that the library pay for only the databases and information that is actually used by the students. The money saved from maintaining an up-to-date research collection was the fund used to purchase the actual hardware for the students. The goal of teaching students to research correctly instead of choosing the first suggestion that Google has to offer is a lofty one. If students are taught to research online correctly and actually use the information, that will be a valuable asset that will serve them

Article Summary well in high school and beyond. Corbett states on page six of the article that Cushing partnered with Deep Web Technologies to utilize search boxes which were then ranked by relevancy on the schools Web site. Personal Value W h en I t a u g h t i n K a n s a s C i t y K a n s a s P u b l i c S c h o o l s e a c h

student was provided a laptop for their own personal use. Students were not taught how to access information correctly or what to do with that information. Many laptops were lost or stolen or just used as a way to play games. If students were taught to utilize the provided hardware for actually study and research, I would think this would be an amazing tool for them both now and in future studies. I am not sure however, that replacing the library with these tools is the way to go. Im not sure if its my old age showing or the fact that I grew up going to the library to gather books for personal enjoyment as well as research but I feel like students today still need the o p p o r t u n i t y t o o p en t h e d o o r s o f a p h y s i c a l l i b r a r y a n d i n h a l e t h e smell of ancient reference books while perusing the research collection for needed information. Students at Cushing Academy definitely do not have an excuse for not doing homework or not having textbooks at home to study or

Article Summary 5 to complete an assignment. Teachers would have to be organized in their teaching methodology to have textbooks and required reading materials available for student use before the semester began. Materials would always be available instead of being checked out by someone else. Summary The goal of saving the library from irrelevance is being met but at what cost? If the library is missing from the campus, what about the librarians? Who will show the students how to access the information from the databases and download the material to the laptops and other hardware? The information will be current and upto-date and easily accessible to everyone on the campus and at home. I will look forward to finding an article in a couple of years that reports on the results of the study at Cushing Academy.

Article Summary References

C o r b e t t , T . ( 2 0 1 1 ) . Th e c h a n gi n g r o l e o f t h e s c h o o l l i b r a r y . S c h o o l Library Monthly, XXVII(7), 5-7.