College students rally to save what they see as a 'real' library
By PETER FUNT, NATIONAL VOICE
(
http://www.news-journalonline.com/mt/mt.cgi?__mode=view&_type=entry&…)
October 10, 2011 12:05 AM
A protest by students at the University of Denver is eye-opening
because of how it is being conducted, what it has so far achieved and,
most of all,what it concerns.
Students here are demanding more books.
Activism at DU has a rich history, including the anti-war protest in
1970 known as Woodstock West, and the earlier Coffee Break Riot of
1965. In the 1965 incident, passion was roused after the
administration ended the morning coffee break, a 50-minute period
during which no classes were conducted.
Students blocked traffic, lit fires and battled with police, but
failed to win back their caffeine privileges. It was an era when
everything was a Big Deal, and the mood on many campuses was
volatile.
Returning to my alma mater last week, I was fascinated by the latest
protest. It seems DU's campus library was badly in need of repairs
and modernization. When plans for a $32 million renovation were
announced, they revealed that most of the books, about 800,000
volumes, would disappear. These books would be stored at an
off-campus location, and be accessible via special order only.
DU, like many universities, was seeking to adapt to changing needs and
conditions. The new facility would house more computers, a million
e-books and other digital resources. Space that had been used to
shelve books would be used for new study areas -- reflecting another
trend on campuses in which students seek to escape the hubbub of
dormitories and increasingly prefer the gentle buzz of a busy, but
orderly study environment. Rather than just calling it a "library,"
DU refers to its new structure as an "academic
commons."
To the administration's surprise, students immediately challenged the
plan and, relying upon mainly the tools of social networking, launched
a protest. Their leader, Brandon Reich-Sweet, said the plan
"jeopardized the
academic vitality of this institution." More fundamentally, he asked:
"What is a library?" It was here in Denver two years ago that Suzanne
Thorin, dean of libraries at Syracuse University, told a gathering of
educators, "The
library, as a place, is dead. Kaput. Finito. And we need to move on
to a new concept of what the academic library is."
DU students clearly disagree. "What surprised us about the protest," I
learned from Ann McCall, DU's dean of Arts and Humanities, "is that it
wasn't the older graduate students who were most concerned, it was the
younger
students, the freshman and sophomores. They wanted more books in the library."
Following a series of Save the Library demonstrations last spring,
onen student wrote about it in the campus newspaper, The Clarion,
under the headline, "Has DU forgotten about books?" "There is
something about being surrounded by books," said Kathy Owens.
"Friends, adventures and information at the tip of your fingers, far
more tangible than an article a few clicks away on your computer."
This was refreshing stuff to hear from a college student, especially
for those of us who are still in shock over the equivalent changes in
our off-campus world where Borders Books, along with hundreds of
smaller independent
book retailers, have disappeared, leaving us with primarily
electronic and online alternatives. And it's not as if the students
are out of step with digital changes. Last week's Clarion carried an
opinion column criticizing
professors who ban laptops in class Reich-Sweet, the student
activist, noted that losing the library books was
"just a small symbol of a broader cultural trend. The scribbles and
sounds we interpret as 'library' would have begun to lose all
meaning."
At last report, DU's administration has yielded, at least part way,
and will return an additional 300,000 books to the spiffy new library
shelves. As an observer, it's hard to decide what means more: the
restoration of books to the very place they belong? Or the fact that
students took such an honorable approach, using the tech tools of a
modern age, to protect and preserve the past?
It's quite a victory. And Denver alums who recall the protests of the
mid-1960s will be pleased to know that when the new library opens in
December 2012, it will not only have books -- it will also serve
coffee.
Funt is a writer and speaker and can be reached at _www.CandidCamera.com_
(
mailto:www.CandidCamera.com) .
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