Some Say Digital Age Limiting OSU Libraries
About a dozen students and professors protest the number of printed material available in OSU libraries.

By Tanya Hutchins
Digital JournalistPublished: May 12, 2009

COLUMBUS, Ohio—As technology changes, so does interaction with it. College libraries are seeing a trend toward digital materials, and The Ohio State University is no different.
About a dozen students and professors protested the number of printed material available in the 15 OSU libraries, where students read traditional books and e-books via computer.
Professor Emeritus John Burnham organized a silent protest outside Bricker Hall to bring attention to the issue of availability of library books.
“The problem is, to have great research and a great university, you have to have the book resources as well,“ Burnham said.
He said only a small fraction of the books are available on shelves for browsing.
OSU Director of Libraries Joe Branin disagreed.
He said libraries are entering a digital age but printed books are still available and there is no limit to the amount of books the library retains.
“What’s happening is we’re seeing a trend toward more digital information, more demand for e-books and e-journals and so we’re spending more of our money now on electronic resources than we did in the past,“ Branin said.
Branin said there is some misinformation circulating and was on hand to clarify that information.
Branin said the university buys more than 100,000 books each year. The entire collection is six million strong, but they carefully weed out duplicate books or those rarely used.
Protestors said that more than 55,000 books have been decommissioned this year.
“What has been cut is a place to keep the books and if you don’t have any place to keep the books, they get thrown out,“ Burnham said.
Many students are still reading the old-fashioned way.
“You know, if I had my choice, I would definitely prefer to read a printed book,“ said Michael Radosevic, an OSU junior.
OSU currently is housing much of its material in a storage facility on Ackerman Road.
OSU expects to open the newly renovated Thompson Library in August with 1.2 million books. That amount is approximately the same amount taken out three years ago.