Florida's newest college opened its doors on Monday for the first day of classes, but its library went a step ahead and offered the unique feature of having not a single book in it, Reuters reported.
A fully digital library is among the futuristic features of Florida Polytechnic University's striking dome-shaped building, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. "It's a boldly relevant decision to go forward without books," said Kathryn Miller, the university's director of libraries.
Around 550 students were offered scholarships covering tuition in order to attend a public university so new that it's not yet accredited. However, the inaugural class will also have the rare opportunity to access more than 135,000 ebooks on their choice of reader, tablet or laptop.
Florida Polytechnic budgeted $60,000 to buy titles through software allowing students with one free browse. With the second click, the university allows them to purchase the digital book. "Instead of the librarian putting books on the shelf that I think would be relevant, the students are choosing," Miller said.
"A bookless library is a rarity among U.S. colleges but reflects the high-tech ambitions of the university in Lakeland, Florida. Rising along a drab stretch of highway between Tampa and Orlando, Florida Polytechnic envisions building a technology corridor in the image of Silicon Valley," according to Reuters.
"Without stacks to organize, librarians staffing the main reference desk, which is called a success desk, will steer students to tutoring resources and train them in managing digital materials."
Meanwhile, students are encouraged not to use printers too much despite the library not being paperless, Miller said, adding that traditional textbooks in the bookstore, or digital texts were instead available to be purchased. Libraries at Florida's 11 other public universities will also be accessible for old-fashioned books to be loaned.
Similar digital libraries run by NASA and a mostly digital medical school library at the University of Central Florida in Orlando were consulted by the college. "Digital in some ways is better. People can find things easier, and they can discover more things by accident," said Carrie Russell, a policy analyst for the American Library Association.
But the downsides include the difficulty of preserving information when technology changes, she noted, and licensing agreements that can require paying annually rather than owning outright. "In the past, you could buy a reference book and it could sit on your shelf for 120 years," Russell said.
