This is something I have thought about a lot this week. I think all librarians are a bit remiss to see digital formats favored over actual books, but in this case I think it makes sense. Textbooks are unecessarily expensive, the companies can charge outrageous amounts for the newest versions of textbooks and students have to pay what they ask because they need the text to pass their courses. They are heavy, they take up a ton of space, and they are not nearly as portable as a digital device.
All that said, and putting my personal feelings about actual books aside, I can actually get behind the use of textbooks in schools. The school I currently work in has two sets of textbooks for every student. The students take one book home every year and keep the other in school. It eliminates all the lugging the book back and forth and keeps them from getting too damaged in the constant transport, but it is twice as expensive for the school to keep this program. All of the students have google chrome books for a 1 to 1 program too. So I see digital texbooks as the next frontier for us. If doesn't single anyone out because they don't have access to a device at home (which I can see being an arguement in other school districts) and it provides access to the text in a much more convienient format.
Add to that sites like project gutenberg and local libraries with ebook libraries that provide free access (the school might even be able to put all the text book money toward a subscription of their own) and I think we have a great argument for going digital in schools.
I do think that there are certain limitations though and they are mainly for students with visual impairments. We would have to work around that by having the book in different formats like audio.
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