RE “WELCOME to the library. Say goodbye to the books’’: The situation described on the front page of the Globe’s Sept. 4 edition has all the makings of a Kurt Vonnegut satire. James Tracy, headmaster of Cushing Academy, claims that books take up too much space. Does he think $500,000 worth of “technology,’’ including a $50,000 coffee shop and a $12,000 cappuccino machine, don’t? I love caffeine, and consider it as crucial to societal development and sustenance as books. However, I’m sure I’m not the only one who sees this as an unnecessary tradeoff.
My high school library in Winchester was an indispensable part of the school community and my personal experience - a “learning center’’ in its own right, without the high-flung technology. Students were drawn there for the free coffee (from a pot), and hot chocolate (Swiss Miss), and stayed there for the friendly, comforting environment, fostered by librarians, fellow students, a neighborhood cat, and rows and rows of books.
No doubt my high school library, like Cushing Academy, faced issues regarding low circulation. Most high school students don’t have enough time to finish their assigned reading, let alone read library books for pleasure. However, this problem will not be solved by replacing paper and bindings with electronic readers.
In the meantime, the atmosphere created by the rows of books continues to play a crucial role in cultivating students’ reverence for the priceless institution and timeless mission of a library. Our town library has one of the highest circulation rates in the state. The space taken up by the books in my high school library found its purpose in the space it claimed in students’ hearts for these accessible, inexpensive, and energy-efficient vessels of knowledge, memory, and imagination.
Caroline Wooten
Winchester 
