Do Schools Still Need Brick and Mortar Libraries? (Poll Closed)

For those voting no Iwould like to see their definition of "brick and mortar libraries" If their definition is someone who checks out books and helps kids find resources within the structure of one concrete physical place, well, they are right. But school libraries have not been that for many years. Even thirty years ago I was telling my seniros who came into the library that what I was teaching them was "lifelong learning". I would tell them, as I do today, that what they were learning in the library would take them through the next 50 years of their life. If they knew how to find information, compile, and analyze it then they would be successful in any environment. School libraries haven't been about book storage for many years. That's why they began calling themselves Library Media Centers or Learning Resource Centers. That's why every study done has shown that learning improves with school libraries with certified School Librarians. If the question is do we still need a place to house print material then yes we do, but once again that is changing. I do not spend what I use to on non-fiction. I do believe that some form of the electronic reading will finally make the breakthrough and e-formats will be a wave in the very near future. That doesn't mean that print will go away entirely, it just means that there will be a shift. As a librarian I have no anxiety at all (except over the many wasted dollars that will be spent on educational technologies that promise alot and give little) school librarians are very good at adopting and integrating new technologies to the educational setting and putting in the hands of students and faculty. That's what a school library is about.

Libraries are gateways to lifelong learning. The physical space is a place to learn, to make contacts, and to acquire skills that can be translated to the larger world. Libraries should have a brick and mortar presence but they should transcend it reaching out throughout the communities they serve.