Massachusetts prep school to discard books, install $12,000 cappuccino machine in library

Last week, The Boston Globe printed an article about Cushing Academy, an elite prep school located in central Massachusetts, and its plan to embrace a digital future. In short, the academy is spending nearly $500,000 to remove the books, stacks and reference desk from its library so that it can create a “learning center,” complete with 18 e-book readers ($10,000), three large flat screen TVs ($42,000), laptop-friendly carrels ($20,000), and a coffee shop ($50,000) that will include a cappuccino machine ($12,000).

“When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books," said James Tracy, headmaster of Cushing Academy. “This isn’t Fahrenheit 451.We’re not discouraging students from reading. We see this as a natural way to shape emerging trends and optimize technology.”

The most interesting part of the article is the 450+ comments readers posted on The Boston Globe’s website. Outage or jealousy?