If we, as adults, never use libraries as research tools, why should we make the kids do it? Libraries for leisure reading? No problem. But unplugging kids and having them use libraries to complete research, as one poster in here suggested, is insane.
Instead of banning, we should encourage their use. Not so much as phones but as web-enabled devices. Imagine where every kid had something that could access the web - tablet, iPod, phone. Obviously there must be some advantage to it, or so many schools wouldn't be moving that direction.
Much like anything else, kids will find a way around a ban. So why not put limits on their use and teach them at a young age how to use appropriately. Perhaps that would eliminate future problems.
You keep ignoring the fact that I have repeatedly pointed out that libraries (or any central location...call it a MEDIA room if it makes you feel better) are not just books...they contain a variety of resources. If every student has a equivalent mobile web device at their finger tips and the school has sufficient wi-fi capacity that all can be used simultaneously, there is less of a problem.
Students carry a variety of devices, with a variety of plans/options/capabilities. Some carry phones that are not web-enabled or no phones at all (dictated by parental choice and/or finances). The variety leads to a very unequal playing field for the students. Technology in the classroom is not a bad thing...but all of the students need equal access. If the school cannot afford laptops or notebooks or Ipads for every student (or every classroom), the logical central location for them would be...yes...the library.
The original poster asked about cell phones and ipods. I responded thinking in terms of phone calls, texts, and students with earphones in, listening to music instead of the instructor. I don't see any of those things as "good" in terms of class time well-spent. Another poster (you, perhaps?) suggested that the students could use their smart phones for web searches, and I suggested the library (which, again, is NOT just books). I think you may be under the impression that I am against technology in the classroom, and I'm not. I feel that student-owned smart phones are not the best way to go about it (for the reasons listed above), and that there are better options. Outside of the classroom (during lunch periods, before, after & between classes) let them use the phones to their hearts' content, as long as they make it to class on time.