E-readers turn every man into his own librarian

National Post: 2011 July 30

I remember from quite some time ago visiting the library of a small school in one of the outport towns of Newfoundland. Only one shelf held books, and even it wasn’t full. Of the 30 or so books that were on that single shelf, eight were the several volumes of a once-popular religious encyclopaedia. Of the rest, a couple were by the great storyteller Robert Louis Stevensons — his books were once the very definition of literary ubiquity, Kidnapped and Treasure Island in particular, being the book equals of Star Wars in our day. There was an old school text of John Buchan’s Prester John there too.


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Book apps: A reading revolution, or the end of reading?

The Globe and Mail: 2011 July 23

To understand the new big thing in publishing, the magic that promises to move put-upon paper pushers from the back of the digital bandwagon into the driver’s seat, you do what the lady said: Just put your lips together and … blow.

Why librarians should be more like Lady Gaga

The Washington Post: 2011 July 14

School libraries around the country are being dramatically cut as government officials look for places to cut their budgets — even though research shows that the country’s highest-performing students come from schools with good library centers.

Are School Librarians Expendable? - Room for Debate

NYTimes.com: 2011 June 26

School librarians are on the chopping block as states and cities seek to cut their education budgets.

In New York City, education officials say that after several years in a row of cutting costs, freezing wages and eliminating extracurricular activities, they may have no choice but to turn to librarians. And with technological advances, education policy makers are rethinking how they view library services in general.

Do superintendents and principals see librarians as more expendable than other school employees? If so, why?