Here is an old time memory for many True Archives readers. Once upon a time there existed in our beloved country a practice of taking books that were no longer needed to the library. There the volumes would be evaluated for condition and suitability for inclusion in the library's collection. A very simple concept and by its practice libraries were able to add books at no expense, and even keep duplicates of popular titles. This was a classic win-win siutation, and the chief beneficiaries were the patrons of the establishments.
In today's modern jet-age a-go-go world such practices becoming obsolete. Gone are days when careful selection considerations determined a given book's fate. Now some libraries act like never-ending yardsales, continually holding book sales hosted by their various "Friends" organizations. Due to the growing illiteracy of our society, book donations have grown to the point where the deliveries are burying the staff who administer our present day temples of Information Science. Shelf space amid the tables of computers, maker spaces, coffee bars and other irrelevancies is at a premium, and the continuous recycling of donated books is a necessary evil. It is not all bad, though. A permanent flea market for books helps avoid the other option: the teltale evidence of codex contempt embarassingly visible within the building's trash dumpsters. A third disposal option has been discovered in a recent advertisement found in the official organ of the American Information Science Journal of Bibilioposer Management:
No comments:
Post a Comment