This commentary is by Bill Wiles, an adjunct professor of English at Castleton University.
For the past two years, I have taught a course at Castleton University titled “Banned Books.” In this course, we focused on books that have been seized, banned, outlawed, deemed obscene or sacrilegious, and whose authors have been harassed, jailed, fined, hunted and tortured under various religious, political, or moral power structures.
Imagine my shock and horror to receive an announcement from the new Vermont State University president that physical copies of books would be removed from libraries to make way for an “all-digital academic library.”
At least when they banned and burned books they found objectionable on whatever level, they kept others. Now, access to and circulation of print materials will be severely restricted as the libraries at all the campuses of Vermont State University will be forced to an all-digital format designed to complement the transition to what is being touted as a “premier hybrid university.”
As a literature teacher/scholar, I believe that the idea of abandoning print materials for digital ones is wrongheaded and ill-conceived. One need only go back to when we were all sent home in March 2020 in the middle of a semester, and kids from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom had to drive to the McDonald’s in Newport to access the internet so they could submit assignments and know what was coming up next.
And, don’t get me started on the circulation-numbers-are-down argument. What would you expect when students were not on campus for three semesters?
A strong case can be made for having access to both print and digital materials. Castleton’s Student Government Association presented a compelling argument for a new survey using unbiased and rational methods and for a zero-loss policy regarding all books and physical collections.
The president, chancellor, and other Vermont State University leadership would do well to listen to those they purport to serve.
What I find most troubling in all of the noise surrounding this decision is the perception that Vermont State University decision makers have the attitude of: “We made a decision. People didn’t like it. Tough cookies. We’re going to do it anyway.”
I have yet to hear President Grewal or any other member of Vermont State University leadership directly answer a question. Skirting the issue and spouting the same nonsense over and over does not enhance your credibility.
I am retiring at the end of this academic year after 43 years with Vermont States Colleges, 18 of those at Castleton. My hope is that the president, chancellor, and leadership of the newly minted Vermont State University will change their collective mind and allow print and digital to continue side by side.
I fear, however, that those of us who value physical books and the printed word will end up like Montag and the hobos at the end of “Fahrenheit 451,” sitting around a campfire where the Calvin Coolidge Library used to be, each person tasked with committing to memory those valuable and precious texts that have been lost or given away.
