Medeiros (2010)

Medeiros, N. (2010). Books, books everywhere, but nary a one in print: Cushing Academy eliminates print books from its library. OCLC Systems & Services, 26(1), 5-7. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from Library & Information Science database. doi: 10.1108/10650751011018446

In this opinion piece (a "viewpoint" article according the the journal's classification system), Medeiros, who works in the library at Haverford College, questions the decision by Cushing Academy, a private high school in Massachusetts, to replace its print collection of 20,000 books with ebooks.

According to a news report that Medeiros quotes, Cushing will provide 18 ereaders (Kindles and Sony readers) for its 450 students. The students will also be able to access ebooks by way of personal computers.

Medeiros says he searched for 222 randomly selected titles from Cushing's online catalog and found that only 18 percent are available via Kindle. He dismisses the 2 million ebooks available through Google Books by saying, "I do not see the value in providing secondary school students with an overwhelming collection of old books in lieu of a carefully selected set of resources appropriate to the curriculum" (p. 6). 

Medeiros argues that Cushing students may not be prepared to deal with the print books they find in the libraries at the colleges they eventually attend.

Medeiros reports a usage analysis of titles that the Haverford College library has in both print and digital formats: "Of the 63 titles, all published in 2008, 15 of them had been viewed online, while 23 of the print versions of these titles had circulated" (p. 6). He reports similar results from another study: "A similar study at Oakland University reviewed 219 books duplicated in print and the library’s NetLibrary subscription package. It found that 53 of these 219 books circulated in print, while 34 of the 219 were accessed online" (p. 7).

His conclusion: "... I would suggest that at best electronic books are utilized currently as a complement to print, not as a replacement. Conversations with faculty further entrench my position that e-books are not yet an acceptable substitute for the tried-and-true print monograph. I do believe the Kindle can alter this mindset, but the lack of a business model for institutional subscriptions, as well as a host of other issues, promise to delay this revolution for some time" (p. 7).

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Fisher-Watkins Library. (n.d.) Cushing Academy. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from http://www.cushing.org/library

"In 2009, The Fisher-Watkins Library ...  replaced the majority of the library's 20,000 printed books with electronic sources ..."
"Cushing's library now delivers thousands of web-based electronic books and authoritative database content directly to our students' laptops, while also supporting offline reading with immediate access to hundreds of thousands of downloadable electronic books delivered to our nearly 200 e-ink eReaders."

"... Cushing Academy is not going 'bookless.' While the library is focused on providing books in electronic format, many teachers continue to assign printed books in their courses, and students are encouraged to read and markup this literature in any format they find most convenient."

The library's description of itself implies that emphasizing digital resources has furthered its role as the leading community center on campus because the library is now something of an Internet cafe.