do school libraries need books?

i don't know. but that's okay. because i don't need to know. the new york times brings together five people who think THEY know. in an op-ed piece in the february 10, 2010 online new york times (sorry, i didn't read the paper paper today), five people (two authors, a library director, a professor of english and the headmaster at cushing academy) discuss this very topic in the appropriately titled, do school libraries need books?.

i have to say in skimming over the essays, i notice some assumptons made on the part of the authors, but i suppose it is an opinion, hence the 'op' in op-ed. but, imho (get it? in my humble OPINION?) it is not a zero-sum game and i don't know why the conversation seems to always move in that direction. if we can have hardback and paperback editions, why can't we add an electronic edition to the mix? we acknowledge that people have different learning styles. i'm just sayin' . . .