Media center - American Education

The relatively new appellation of the traditional school or college library. In strictest etymological terms, the word library refers only to a repository for books, its root, liber, being the Latin word for book. In the last half of the 20th century, however, most school and college libraries expanded their collections to include a wide variety of audio and visual materials, including CD-ROMS, video cassettes, and laser discs, tapes and computer-related materials. Moreover, computers tied to scanners, printers and other hardware can access and download audio and visual materials as well as textual materials from other libraries and databases throughout the world via the Internet. No longer limited to housing books alone, libraries— especially at schools and colleges—are more accurately designated media centers.