Is there really a need for textbooks?

While I was reading the article The Need for Texbooks, by the Fischbowl, I realized one need for textbooks was emphasized. In this article, the author speaks of spying a tornado instruction poster on a wall. Unexpectedly, the author discovered a need for textbooks that answers the question if schools really need them. If for nothing else, students need them, to shield and protect themselves against a tornado, should any other means not be available to them. The author was making a statement about our schools, for much is said about our schools for this unlikelihood to be the reason students need books. Shouldn’t the reason students need books be for learning?!