There’s a certain reverie that comes with hanging out in a library, surrounded by the thoughts and theories of thousands upon thousands of authors. There’s a tale for every human experience, a poem for every love story, and a story to go along with every moment in history. And, ok, I’ll admit it: the old books smell good. Like, really good.

But it seems like books are being put on the back burner in contemporary society, especially with the popularity of online versions of many books and the emergence of digital readers such as the Kindle.

At Cushing Academy, a prep school just outside of Boston, the books are already long gone. The former library of over 20,000 books has been entirely replaced with just 18 Kindles and a newly designed, technologically driven work area - dubbed the ‘Learning Centre’ - complete with coffee shop. Yikes.

The whole ‘renovation’ process is costing the prep school upwards of $500,000. Cushing Headmaster James Tracy defends the school’s decision, citing the ‘outdatedness’ of books, comparing them to Ancient Scrolls. Furthermore, he believes that the Kindles will not inhibit reading but, on the contrary, allow students to freely access millions of written works in a more technologically savvy, user-friendly platform.

So the question remains: are books losing their place in the world as technology refines our ideas of normalcy?

Check out the story here:

http://mashable.com/2009/09/05/school-library-e-readers/

{Efe’s note: Casey is our newest awesomest intern here at CampBFP. She is a UVM senior who majors in English & Sociology. This is her first post.. }