I've spent a lot of time considering the digital divide and the roles that schools play in leveling it. When people ask me if libraries are going away, I don't have an easy answer. I'd like to say no, but they are dependent on continued funding and support. I'm lucky to work at a school that supports both traditional research and innovation. The library is used individually or by classes virtually every period of the school day, and students are waiting when I arrive in the morning. One could argue that some of that work doesn't need to take place in a library now that students have iPads, and they'd be correct. Yet students seem to like working in a space that is devoted to knowledge and discovery. Learning is hard work and it takes effort. I don't see that changing even though facts are more easily retrievable.
The framing of iPads or libraries as a civil rights issue surprised me. Both libraries and technology require continual support; it's not enough to "purchase" one and be done with the investment. So there is the obvious cost-benefit question, but how much should we consider student preferences about what makes them excited to learn?
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-constantino-lausd-ipads-or-libraries-20140915-story.html
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