"The days of libraries saying, 'We must have that, because it's good for people,' are beyond us."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/01/AR2007010100729_pf.html

Hello, Grisham -- So Long, Hemingway?
With Shelf Space Prized, Fairfax Libraries Cull Collections

By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 2, 2007; A01

You can't find "Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings" at the Pohick Regional Library anymore. Or "The Education of Henry Adams" at Sherwood Regional. Want Emily Dickinson's "Final Harvest"? Don't look to the Kingstowne branch.

It's not that the books are checked out. They're just gone. No one was reading them, so librarians took them off the shelves and dumped them.

Along with those classics, thousands of novels and nonfiction works have been eliminated from the Fairfax County collection after a new computer software program showed that no one had checked them out in at least 24 months.

Public libraries have always weeded out old or unpopular books to make way for newer titles. But the region's largest library system is taking turnover to a new level.

Like Borders and Barnes & Noble, Fairfax is responding aggressively to market preferences, calculating the system's return on its investment by each foot of space on the library shelves -- and figuring out which products will generate the biggest buzz. So books that people actually want are easy to find, but many books that no one is reading are gone -- even if they are classics.

"We're being very ruthless," said Sam Clay, director of the 21-branch system since 1982. "A book is not forever. If you have 40 feet of shelf space taken up by books on tulips and you find that only one is checked out, that's a cost."

That is the new reality for the Fairfax system and the future for other libraries. As books on tape, DVDs, computers and other electronic equipment crowd into branches, there is less room for plain old books.

So librarians are making hard decisions and struggling with a new issue: whether the data-driven library of the future should cater to popular tastes or set a cultural standard, even as the demand for the classics wanes.

Library officials say they will always stock Shakespeare's plays, "The Great Gatsby" and other venerable titles. And many of the books pulled from one Fairfax library can be found at another branch and delivered to a patron within a week.

But in the effort to stay relevant in an age in which reference materials and novels can be found on the Internet and Oprah's Book Club helps set standards of popularity, libraries are not the cultural repositories they once were.

"I think the days of libraries saying, 'We must have that, because it's good for people,' are beyond us," said Leslie Burger, president of the American Library Association and director of Princeton Public Library. "There is a sense in many public libraries that popular materials are what most of our communities desire. Everybody's got a favorite book they're trying to promote."

That leaves some books endangered. In Fairfax, thousands of titles have been pulled from the shelves and become eligible for book sales.

Weeding books used to be sporadic. Now it's strategic. Clay and his employees established the two-year threshold 18 months ago, driven, they say, by a $2 million cut to the budget for books and materials and the demand for space. More computers and growing demand in branches for meeting space, story hours and other gatherings have left less room for books.

And nowadays, library patrons don't like to sit at big tables with strangers as they read or study. They want to be alone, creating a need for individual carrels that take up even more space. And the popularity of audiovisual materials that must be housed in 50-year-old branches built for smaller collections only adds to the crunch.

To do more with less, Fairfax library officials have started running like businesses. Clay bought state-of-the art software that spits out data on each of the 3.1 million books in the county system -- including age, number of times checked out and when. There are also statistics on the percentages of shelf space taken up by mysteries, biographies and kids' books.

Every branch gets a printout of the data each month, including every title that hasn't circulated in the previous 24 months. It's up to librarians to decide whether a book stays. The librarians have discretion, but they also have targets, collection manager Julie Pringle said. "What comes in is based on what goes out," she said.

Classics such as Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" are among the titles that haven't been checked out in two years and could be eliminated. Librarians so far have decided to keep them.

As libraries clear out titles, they sweep in new ones as fast as they can. A two-month-old program called "Hot Picks" is boosting copies of bestsellers by tracking the number of holds requested by patrons. This month, every Fairfax branch will display new books more prominently, leaving even less space for older ones.

"We don't want to keep what people don't use much of," Clay said. Circulation, a sign of prestige and a potential bargaining chip for new funding, is on pace to hit 11.6 million in the Fairfax system this year, part of a steady climb over the past three years.

No other system in the Washington area is tracking circulation as quickly -- or weeding so methodically. Montgomery County, a similar-size suburban system, has not emphasized weeding in several years, said Kay Ecelbarger, who retired last month as chief of collection management.

In the District, library director Ginnie Cooper said she has not tackled weeding and turnover policy in the system, which is struggling to increase circulation. She hopes to address those concerns with a recent infusion of cash from the D.C. Council.

There are no national standards on weeding public library collections.

As Fairfax bets its future on a retail model, some librarians say that the public library may be straying too far from its traditional role as an archive of literature and history.

Arlington County's library director, Diane Kresh, said she's "paying a lot of attention to what our customers want." But if they aren't checking out Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," she's not only keeping it, she's promoting it through a new program that gives forgotten classics prominent display.

"Part of my philosophy is that you collect for the ages," Kresh said. "The library has a responsibility to provide a core collection for the cultural education of its community." She comes to this view from a career at the Library of Congress, where she was chief of public service collections for 30 years.

The weight of the new choices falls on the local librarian. That's especially hard at the Woodrow Wilson branch in Falls Church, one of the smallest in the Fairfax system. It's a vibrant place popular with Latino and Middle Eastern immigrants, the elderly and young professionals. Branch manager Linda Schlekau, who has 20 years of experience, says she discards about 700 books a month.

"Nine Plays by Eugene O'Neill" sat on the top shelf of a cart in the back room one day in late December, wedged between Voltaire's "Candide" and "Broke Heart Blues" by Joyce Carol Oates. The cart brimmed with books that someone on Schlekau's staff had pulled from the shelves. Sometimes she has time to give them another look before wheeling them to the book-sale pile. Sometimes she doesn't.

The Oates would return to the shelf, "because she's a real popular author at Woodrow Wilson," even if "Broke Heart Blues" isn't, Schlekau said. The Voltaire would go. An obscure Edgar Allan Poe volume called "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" might be transferred to another branch.

Schlekau hesitated over the volume of O'Neill plays, which was in good condition but had been checked out only nine times in its lifespan at the library, falling short of the system's new goal of 20. She sighed. "The only time things like this are going out is if they're [performing the plays] at the Kennedy Center."

But, she said, she's disinclined to throw O'Neill into the discard pile: "That's the English major in me."

and what (ooo), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:04 (seventeen years ago) link

ned's gonna make sure uci has "secrets of the model dorm"

Tyrone Slothrop (Tyrone Slothrop), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:05 (seventeen years ago) link

I hate my local library. All they seem to buy are romances and self-help, any book I want to read I have to ILL.

The Many Faces of Gordon Jump (Leon), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:09 (seventeen years ago) link

"We're being very ruthless," said Sam Clay, director of the 21-branch system since 1982. "A book is not forever. If you have 40 feet of shelf space taken up by books on tulips and you find that only one is checked out, that's a cost."

GIVE ME THE TULIP BOOKS.

Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:09 (seventeen years ago) link

they might get rid of To Kill a Mockingbird? really?

horseshoe (horseshoe), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:09 (seventeen years ago) link

I hate my local library. All they seem to buy are romances and self-help, any book I want to read I have to ILL.

Same here.

The PEW Research Center for Panty-Twisting (Rock Hardy), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:15 (seventeen years ago) link

i remember libraries in hackney were all true crime fiction and books about little old ladies solving mysteries

and what (ooo), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:16 (seventeen years ago) link

also stuff about like romance in the swiss alps during the war with really corny paintings on the cover

and what (ooo), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:16 (seventeen years ago) link

...after a new computer software program showed that no one had checked them out in at least 24 months.

jesus, my university [of london] has books that no fucker has looked at in years (often quite surprising ones); that's not a good reason to get rid.

temporary enrique (temporary enrique), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:16 (seventeen years ago) link

xpost

The article didn't say this, but I wonder if they are getting rid of every copy of Mockingbird or just a particular version like a hardback or something.

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:17 (seventeen years ago) link

yeah, maybe. that is not a book I would peg as "forgotten." doesn't every eight grader in America read it in school?

xpost about Mockingbird

horseshoe (horseshoe), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:20 (seventeen years ago) link

every eight grader reads it and more than likely (beware, wild speculation to follow) is given a copy to read by their teacher.

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:21 (seventeen years ago) link

yeah, sure, I'm not saying it's the eight graders who need it from the library. it's just kind of an American institution.

horseshoe (horseshoe), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:22 (seventeen years ago) link

They just toss the discards? who do libraries donate books to?

In Manhattan, the people who queue up to get in the branches when they open are generally the homeless and people over 60.

Dr M (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:23 (seventeen years ago) link

ned's gonna make sure uci has "secrets of the model dorm"

Oh heck yes.

Yeah, stories like this, and I've heard plenty similar, are definitely one reason why I am glad not simply to have access to UCI's collection (even if I didn't work here I'd be able to get a free card since I belong to the UCLA Alumni Association) but to be actually employed at the place.

One of the worst stories I heard was from my folks -- apparently the public library up in Salinas closed because there was no demand any more. Fundamentally depressing on many levels.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:24 (seventeen years ago) link

xpost

yeah I agree that Mockingbird should be available from the library--I just wonder if they really are trashing every copy of the book.

also, don't people use public libraries for webpron and DVD's more so than checking out books? really really depressing but true.

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:25 (seventeen years ago) link

as long as libraries offer free internet theyll never close but nobody goes there for books anymore

and what (ooo), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:25 (seventeen years ago) link

We take out giant piggy piles of books.

Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:26 (seventeen years ago) link

our neighborhood library here is closed for renovations and I'd love to start my own temporary library in the meantime. does anyone ever do that? That would be awesomes.

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:27 (seventeen years ago) link

as long as libraries offer free internet theyll never close but nobody goes there for books anymore\

Even the case here, and there's a huge book turnaround obv. But it's also obvious what most people are here for (and now that we've allowed people to bring in food and drink -- something I'm irritated by but there we are -- that trend will accelerate).

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:28 (seventeen years ago) link

Food in the LIBRARY? That's craziness. Main Bklyn branch has a caf in the lobby but no food allowed into the book wings, I believe. I've never tried.

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:29 (seventeen years ago) link

I thought libraries had deep storage for this kinda thing, but I guess that would require enough funding and space.

kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:30 (seventeen years ago) link

Food in the LIBRARY? That's craziness.

Dig up any number of stories and reports on this trend. People essentially want their libraries to be Starbucks with books.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:35 (seventeen years ago) link

When I go to the library to make an ILL request, I usually have a degree of confidence that some library, somewhere, had the funding and the sense to buy what I want and keep it in stock. But this thread is giving me The Fear.

The PEW Research Center for Panty-Twisting (Rock Hardy), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:36 (seventeen years ago) link

Well, they want their bookstores to be libraries! Witness the number of times someone asked me, when I worked at B&N, "Is there somewhere I can photocopy these pages?" Ans: NO U DUM FUCK YOU CAN BUY THE BOOK.

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:38 (seventeen years ago) link

Isn't Mockingbird one of those books that's a classic but everyone hates it? I may be confusing it with Catcher in the Rye.

The news story is just hideously depressing. They can't store all the books forever, but "No-one's reading this" is a rubbish reason both because reading something's not the same as checking it out, and because finding something you weren't looking for in a library is one of the best bits.

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:39 (seventeen years ago) link

When I go to the library to make an ILL request, I usually have a degree of confidence that some library, somewhere, had the funding and the sense to buy what I want and keep it in stock. But this thread is giving me The Fear.

Well, as Kingfish notes, it depends on the storing arrangements. The UC system, being pretty high-end, created two storage facilities back in the eighties for all the campus libraries to send little-used items to, one for northern California and one for the south (I worked at the southern one, at UCLA, all through my undergrad years). So we're lucky there, but this is an exception, not a rule.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:40 (seventeen years ago) link

In February the NYPL should be taking delivery on a machine that allows you to ask for any of 2.5 million titles in the public domain (like most of those mentioned in the news story above) and have it printed and bound for a cost of (reportedly) about a penny per page.

There is no need to continually take up so much redundant space and time and kilowatts of climate control for anything out of copyright.

TOMB07 (trm), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:40 (seventeen years ago) link

I dunno, Andrew? I dislike Catcher but I think I tried to read it too late, and was the wrong kind of teenager for it anyway. I just read Mockingbird last year and really REALLY loved it.

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:41 (seventeen years ago) link

http://www.ondemandbooks.com/

TOMB07 (trm), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:41 (seventeen years ago) link

I realize this is a ridiculous generalization, but no, Andrew. people love To Kill a Mockingbird.

horseshoe (horseshoe), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:42 (seventeen years ago) link

One of the reasons i still hold my university job is to have access to its excellent library, but I visit the county library periodically. From what I've observed its clientele consists of: children checking out books with their parents, who are themselves checking out DVD's or Mary Higgins Clark; the elderly and indigent using the internet; and professional types who bring their laptops to take advantage of the wireless access. There's a lot of out of print books, particularly in the rock and film sections, that I would really miss if the library's budget were suddenly slashed, but no one else reads them.

I was heartened, however, when I saw someone in the checkout line holding Gore Vidal's Hollywood.

Alfred Soto (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:43 (seventeen years ago) link

Fairfax County in market-driven solutions shockah.

Stephen Ex (Stephen Ex), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:46 (seventeen years ago) link

There is no need to continually take up so much redundant space and time and kilowatts of climate control for anything out of copyright.

This I'd actually agree with, and it's of a piece with online-only music reissues and the like (or just freefloating downloads, like at the UCSB cylinder archive). But as the continuing extension of copyright law means an ever-increasing amount of titles never fall out of copyright, things get problematic.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:48 (seventeen years ago) link

I just re-read Mockingbird recently and had a lot of problems with it. It seems designed for middle schoolers to read. A great book for young kids to read, but I don't see much merit in it for adults. Structurally, it's a complete mess: the entire Boo Radley thread is dropped for chapters and chapters once the trial gets underway. Atticus is shown over and over (and over) as a noble gentleman who can do no wrong and it is just soooo heavy handed. The entire trial takes a day and since the book is in first person, Scout and Jem have to witness it from up in the gallery, when there is no real reason for them to do so.

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:48 (seventeen years ago) link

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e391/marthasminions/deleted-book.jpg

This is the Audubon Field Guild to North American Wildflowers. I bought it from the Chilmark Library book sale. They must have had duplicates—no way they'd get rid of the only copy of such an essential book. These other libraries should at least have sales and/or giveaways and not just trash the books. Sheesh.

Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:49 (seventeen years ago) link

the public library in Falls Church (Arlington County) used to be really good! that was c. 2002-3.

horseshoe (horseshoe), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:49 (seventeen years ago) link

(Mockingbird is beloved by people who read it in their youth, though. which is pretty much every American.)

horseshoe (horseshoe), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:50 (seventeen years ago) link

there's a public library a block from my house that i've never been in. nice feral cats who live around it and eat dinner by it every evening, tho.

Tyrone Slothrop (Tyrone Slothrop), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:52 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah but Sonny went and got himself killed, Ned.

TOMB07 (trm), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:53 (seventeen years ago) link

My local branch library was closed two years ago for a renovation that never happened, and since then has become an informal homeless shelter and public sex site for neighborhood youth. Anything to get people into a library, etc.

Stephen Ex (Stephen Ex), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:58 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah but Sonny went and got himself killed, Ned.

MINOR DETAILS

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 16:58 (seventeen years ago) link

That's funny, there are a bunch of wild stray cats around my library too. And it's a block away as well.

The PEW Research Center for Panty-Twisting (Rock Hardy), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:00 (seventeen years ago) link

Our local library is popular, but I live in a town with two private colleges, therefore the local population has a lot of profs and their reading-obsessed kids. (Love this town).

Someone mentioned upthread working at B&N and being asked to photocopy pages. When I worked at a B&N (in the Twin Cities suburbs), I was astounded at the number of parents of kids doing book reports who didn't seem to know what a library even was or how to use it. The public library was right down the street!

Sara Robinson-Coolidge (Sara R-C), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:03 (seventeen years ago) link

I was feeling guilty about not returning the six books I checked out of the library in OCTOBER! But now I'm just going to keep them.

OK, not really. I'll return the books.
I missed the library amnesty week - it was Thanksgiving week at my local library, and all the other libraries do amnesty at Christmas. So I called them. "Hi, are you doing that amnesty thing?" "No, we did that at Thanksgiving."
Big discussion of fines ensued. And, basically, they don't go farther than $3.00 per book, no matter how long you neglect to return them. It's a very forgiving system.

aimurchie (aimurchie), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:03 (seventeen years ago) link

Do Americans generally say "beyond us" where we would say "behind us"?

Alba (Alba), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:05 (seventeen years ago) link

We look the future while the UK looks to the past. Uh, yeah.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:08 (seventeen years ago) link

I don't think that works.

Alba (Alba), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:09 (seventeen years ago) link

Beyond us = out of reach. Future or past it doesn't matter.

Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:17 (seventeen years ago) link

Yes, but it sounds a but funny to me, cause it's not like the man in the quote is reaching for them.

Alba (Alba), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:19 (seventeen years ago) link

These other libraries should at least have sales and/or giveaways and not just trash the books. Sheesh.

In my experience, most of them do. I have picked up a lot of books that way.

The Many Faces of Gordon Jump (Leon), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:30 (seventeen years ago) link

Even UCI does it a bit, but most often with donated copies of items we already own. There's a big once a year sale in spring.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:32 (seventeen years ago) link

Well, they want their bookstores to be libraries! Witness the number of times someone asked me, when I worked at B&N, "Is there somewhere I can photocopy these pages?" Ans: NO U DUM FUCK YOU CAN BUY THE BOOK.

I had a guy do this to me when I worked in a charity bookshop. The bloody book was only about €6, and he just 'wanted a couple of articles' out of it. He was really insulted when I wouldn't let him 'borrow' it to take across the road to the copy shop. People are dicks.

accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:33 (seventeen years ago) link

LOCK EM UP GENTS

obi strip (sanskrit), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:38 (seventeen years ago) link

and now that we've allowed people to bring in food and drink

WTF??! (i work with rare books and have actually had nightmares about patrons drinking/eating at the tables)

jo ga11ucci electrix (joseph), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:40 (seventeen years ago) link

I believe Special Collections still enforces the rule. But otherwise...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:41 (seventeen years ago) link

god that maplewood library article is depressing. then again, shutting out ALL patrons for a good chunk of the day...hmm.

jo ga11ucci electrix (joseph), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:43 (seventeen years ago) link

This comfortable Essex County suburb of 23,000 residents, still proud of its 2002 mention in Money magazine on a list of “Best Places to Live,µ is no seedy outpost of urban violence. But its library officials, like many across the country, have grown frustrated by middle schoolers’ mix of pent-up energy, hormones and nascent independence.

yay for suburbs

kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:44 (seventeen years ago) link

UMASS has the tallest library in the world, I think. It's a statistical phenomenom for some reason - tallness?
There's a coffee shop in the lobby. "The Procrastination Station". maybe this is common, now?

I enjoy going to the tall library just because it's fun to wander through the stacks. I'm particularly fond of the "reserve" floor, because those librarians (often students) have a clock that ticks away the time you have to borrow a "reserved" book. it's a very stressful floor. Like, they actually time it to the minute - the two hours that you get to take something from the reserves. "9:47 a.m. GO!" And you best be getting that book back by 11:47 a.m., because they fine you $50.00 an hour, and the hour starts the minute you failed to return the book.
How do I know this? Well, you figure it out.

Anyway, I live in the "five college" area of Mass., so the local libraries are very good, and the borrowing system among the colleges/university is splendid.
The colleges are very nice about letting the libraries be open to anyone. Lots of crazy, failed PhD. candidates (or so I assume)sitting in the comfy chairs at the Smith library, for instance.
The private colleges have the most comfy areas for reading. I might have to write a field guide to comfy college libraries!
Mount Holyoke is beyond the pale - SO comfy.
I'm very fortunate to have the library wealth that I do.

And Beth Parker? I still have my CLAMS card. (Cape and Islands Library System).

aimurchie (aimurchie), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 17:46 (seventeen years ago) link

Do Americans generally say "beyond us" where we would say "behind us"?

they may say it, but not "generally"

This is the Audubon Field Guild to North American Wildflowers. I bought it from the Chilmark Library book sale. They must have had duplicates—no way they'd get rid of the only copy of such an essential book

More essential than the Newmark or the Petersons?

nuneb (nuneb), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:06 (seventeen years ago) link

er, Newcomb, rather?

nuneb (nuneb), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:13 (seventeen years ago) link

whoot whoot st louis! http://www.ccsu.edu/AMLC/Library/top10.htm

my local branch is always fantastic.

teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:18 (seventeen years ago) link

The man in the quote is mangling his phraseology because he doesn't read enough good books, clearly.

Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:20 (seventeen years ago) link

Do Americans generally say "beyond us" where we would say "behind us"?

Haha the official answer to this would be "no" -- the person quoted here is just slipping up and mixing stuff around. Leslie meant to say "we're beyond it," but had the "it" part of the subject at the beginning of the sentence.

(The main idiomatic use of "beyond" here will always be the exasperated "it's beyond me/us" for "I can't understand/imagine it!")

nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:23 (seventeen years ago) link

PS Judging from the quotes in this article it sounds as if they've leaped on the idea of popularity-based collections with some kind of weird dogmatism -- "OMG, we must do what the computer tells us!" -- that's fairly dumb: surely they must have some understanding that there are, like, different lengths and terms to popularity? Or are they really dedicated to a model where branch libraries do nothing but buy and cycle through bestsellers for their brief lifespans, and then spend the rest of eternity having to transfer in all the long-term staples they've cast off?

nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:27 (seventeen years ago) link

I think "beyond" works here though, giving a sense that being able to stock everything is moving out of our reach, as the amount of books increases while the funding is cut.

Which is a dodging answer - the question the article would seem to want to ask is "Yes, we know, but why aren't you getting rid of last year's Catherine Cookson novels, which are in a burst of popularity but will wane, instead of stuff that there will always be a steady but low demand for?"

(xpost beaten by nabisco!)

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:35 (seventeen years ago) link

Actually, not so much "steady but low demand" as "this could be put back on a syllabus next year, and you will look like idiots"

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:37 (seventeen years ago) link

c-word in t minus ten, nine...

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:39 (seventeen years ago) link

This is kind of a bummer because I used to love checking out books and noting that they hadn't been checked out since like 1964 and wondering who the previous reader was.

jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:45 (seventeen years ago) link

I don't think this is a trend that will affect all libraries -- probably some public libraries with short-sighted directors. I've been to plenty of great public libraries that are popular and well-funded by their city or township that have great collections. But I can see the libraries that have sketchy funding to begin with going this route.

The Many Faces of Gordon Jump (Leon), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:48 (seventeen years ago) link

It would be great if it was upon us.

aimurchie (aimurchie), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:49 (seventeen years ago) link

i wish the library near me was a little better. there's an LAPL branch about five blocks down the street from my place and it really does only seem to have mediocre mystery novels, anne mccaffrey, and leon uris.

bohren un der club of gear (bohren un der club of gear), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:52 (seventeen years ago) link

Sadly, this is becoming more of a trend amongst under-funded public libraries everywhere. About 2 years ago, Buffalo (and Erie County) threatened to close ALL their public libraries, due to lack of funding (and a heinously corrupt county government). They ended up laying off a HUGE amount of librarians and library workers, and closed a few branches (happily, not all). And, as Ned mentioned, there was major uproar over the closing of the Salinas PL.

As for "what do they do with these books?", a lot of liberries have books sales to help with the underfunding aspect.

From the horse's mouth:

http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=libraryfunding&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=139034

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:56 (seventeen years ago) link

Now I feel guilty about the hundreds of books that I have referenced, read in the stacks, browsed through, or photocopied without actually checking them out.

walterkranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 18:58 (seventeen years ago) link

(Mockingbird is beloved by people who read it in their youth, though. which is pretty much every American.)
-- horseshoe (rosalind51...), Today. (horseshoe) (link)

except the zillions of americans that hate to read

friday on the porch (lfam), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 19:03 (seventeen years ago) link

i went on a horrible date once with a woman who 'jokingly' called me a nerd because i liked to read.

bohren un der club of gear (bohren un der club of gear), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 19:06 (seventeen years ago) link

there were other reasons for that epithet i would have accepted

bohren un der club of gear (bohren un der club of gear), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 19:06 (seventeen years ago) link

beyond works just fine where you and another object are both moving apart but it is unclear which of you is moving 'forward'

nuneb (nuneb), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 19:07 (seventeen years ago) link

We do seem to be moving towards a tldr culture.

The Many Faces of Gordon Jump (Leon), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 19:08 (seventeen years ago) link

I suppose I can understand that without enough funding it is one solution, but they are actively perpetuating older books being forgotten by having such things as "Hot Picks", which is what really disgusts me about this move. The librarian who is trying to remedy the situation by suggesting their own choices seems to be providing a much better service to the community.

emil.y (emil.y), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 19:11 (seventeen years ago) link

Not all "hot picks" in libraries are new releases. A sad fact of the matter is, you're going to get more circulation with Harry Potter than you would with Nathaniel Hawthorne. More circulation = more money from funding institutions.

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 19:15 (seventeen years ago) link

It doesn't necessarily matter whether the "hot picks" are new or not, rather that the whole thing of 'this is popular, let's push it so it becomes even more popular' is a despicable way of thinking. It's giving help to those who need it least.

emil.y (emil.y), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 19:17 (seventeen years ago) link

I can't think of any way to get people to check out/be interested in The House of Seven Gables, though. I mean, it's a nice thought and all, but the sad fact is people don't really use the library for that sort of thing anymore. The books mentioned in the article are not that popular. . .? Or are they? The Emily Dickinson is a "best of" collection, and I would imagine most libraries will keep her Collected Works on the shelf.

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 19:21 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah, sure, some libraries do that, but not all. Also, there's a whole can of funding worms that are causing the "pushing" of what's popular. I'm not condoning it at all, but it's just the sad state of affairs that our public libraries are left in. If a popular book can get a kid to read, who would normally head straight for the computers, then I'm all for it. I'm also all for young adult librarians, for example, to create sections of recommended books (classics, etc.), which a lot of them do already.

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 19:24 (seventeen years ago) link

my library is working really hard at the balance b/w populist books people will read, reference material, and classics (mostly cheapie penguins) (and cds, dvds, computers, books on tape, material for the disabled, government forms, industrial saftey reports, et al)

it is an incredibly complicated balancing act and they are fucking saints

FUCKTHISSHIT (JACKLOVE), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:01 (seventeen years ago) link

People essentially want their libraries to be Starbucks with books.

There used to be an actual Starbucks in our main library when I first moved here. It is gone now.

I don't really mind it so much in a public library, but at a university library it's a bit ridiculous. I really think there's a difference between what a public library is supposed to do (keep people who can't or won't buy books reading and thus literate and thus better citizens; give them access to information) and what a university library should do (promote deep research; archive materials). The systems need to be connected, and all, but coffee is a public library doesn't seem to be the end of the world.

Casuistry (casuistry), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:29 (seventeen years ago) link

The university where I work wants to take the central library and make it an "information commons." What the hell is that? Essentially, it is going to be a giant Starbucks with plenty of computer terminals. You're totally OTM with a university library should do (promote deep research; archive materials. They, just like the publics, are worried about circulation statistics and getting people into the actual physical library as well. If the two can somehow be magically intertwined, well, then more power to them. What can you do? People aren't coming into libraries like they used to. While I think the idea of "print is dead" is completely absurd, numbers for circulation and library visitors is on teh decline.

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:36 (seventeen years ago) link

It's a vibrant place popular with Latino and Middle Eastern immigrants, the elderly and young professionals.

Hmmm, maybe I should send a resume?

I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:40 (seventeen years ago) link

Doesn't Barnes & Noble have a better selection than the average suburban public library at this point anyway?

walterkranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:43 (seventeen years ago) link

Their reference staff kind of suck.

Stephen Ex (Stephen Ex), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:47 (seventeen years ago) link

Certainly true of my hometown library, WK, but the nearest B&N is about 40 miles away & requires highway driving, while the library is within biking distance for jr high kids. (XP)

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:48 (seventeen years ago) link

Also I'll have you know I was excellent at the reference desk, but people WOULD come in and say things like, "I'm looking for a book about yay big, and it's sort of blueish-grey. Do you know what book I mean?"
SURE, NO PROBLEM, LET ME SHOW YOU TO OUR BLUE BOOK SECTION.

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:50 (seventeen years ago) link

yeah people do that at the B&N, too.

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:51 (seventeen years ago) link

I like the little "Hot/Staff Picks" displays, assuming they're something other than just novels published in the last 6 months. There's a bit of serendipity involved in encountering the random collection of books that I enjoy.

kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:52 (seventeen years ago) link

xpost

oh or maybe you mean B&N. oops. I bet people do it in both places, though.

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:52 (seventeen years ago) link

"yay"? "yea"? Whatev. Mr Q, are you trying to be funny, or did you not realize that I was talking about the B&N? XP: Hah.

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:53 (seventeen years ago) link

Our library has some books about Brazilian economics in its HOT PICKS section, courtesy of yours truly.

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:55 (seventeen years ago) link

yeah i'm sorry, Laurel!

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:55 (seventeen years ago) link

Also I'll have you know I was excellent at the reference desk, but people WOULD come in and say things like, "I'm looking for a book about yay big, and it's sort of blueish-grey. Do you know what book I mean?"
SURE, NO PROBLEM, LET ME SHOW YOU TO OUR BLUE BOOK SECTION.

Even worse: when a customer would approach and earnestly ask, "Excuse me, do you sell books?"

I prefer Borders over B&N: more knowledgeable staff; better coffee; I don't see the same Henry James books on the shelves, whether it's a store in Hoboken or West Palm Beach.

Alfred Soto (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:57 (seventeen years ago) link

how serendipitous. a co-worker just forwarded this to everyone:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/nyregion/02library.html

xpost: Inter-Library Loan for the Henry James!

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 20:59 (seventeen years ago) link

It is gross how many parents expect public libraries to be daycare centers for their kids.

The Many Faces of Gordon Jump (Leon), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:00 (seventeen years ago) link

Molly is on the money: ILL-ing is the key to this entire problem.

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:01 (seventeen years ago) link

You actually learn in library school that if you become a young adult or children's librarian, you may have to deal with "babysitting issues."

My pinko heart wanted me to be a public librarian so badly, but alas, it was not to be.

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:03 (seventeen years ago) link

OH MY GOD, someone once came all the way to the bookstore info desk and asked me, "Do you sell plaques?" I was like, "Plaques? Like with common sayings or bible verses on them?" "Yeah, like that." "I'm afraid not, sir." "Well, then, darnit, what DO you sell?" "Uh. Books."

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:04 (seventeen years ago) link

I like how that Times story actually only gets around to actually asking kids in the final couple of paragraphs.

You actually learn in library school that if you become a young adult or children's librarian, you may have to deal with "babysitting issues."

This is why I could never teach K-12.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:04 (seventeen years ago) link

best bookstore question ever, when I worked in a bookstore:

Do you sell globes of Mars?

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:05 (seventeen years ago) link

Well, did you?

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:06 (seventeen years ago) link

That is awesome. I'm sure they exist, in some science & nature/educational catalog somewhere! Someone I know has a light-up string of semi-scale models of all the planets that you blow up; imagine a beach ball of Jupiter!

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:07 (seventeen years ago) link

You actually learn in library school that if you become a young adult or children's librarian, you may have to deal with "babysitting issues."

Which is why I will never work in a public library. It's not that I hate kids...I just hate the kind of kids that end up left unsupervised in a library.

The Many Faces of Gordon Jump (Leon), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:09 (seventeen years ago) link

Yep, I'm the same way. I like kids, a lot! It's just that I'm far too sarcastic to deal with idiot children who are left to roost at the library.

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:12 (seventeen years ago) link

Besides, an academic library has the quiet period between semesters that allows me to make stupid puns about Hinder and furries.

The Many Faces of Gordon Jump (Leon), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:14 (seventeen years ago) link

No we didn't sell them, but now I remember how badly I want a globe of Mars!

Mr. Que (Party with me Punker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:14 (seventeen years ago) link

The article starts off by making it sound like the library is going to do whatever the computer tells it to do (so to speak), but as it goes on, that becomes more and more qualified by the fact that sometimes librarians might choose to keep books that have been picked for weeding by the computerized selection process.

I think a public library can and should have a collection development policy that's a mix of pandering and educating. I don't think it's a science.

Much of this comes down to how cities make budgeting decisions. They want to see some concrete numbers, so library administrators tend to give them circulation statistics (at least where the collection is the issue).

I also see collection standardization increasing as a byproduct of certain integrated acquisitions/cataloging systems. (To some extent this depends on how much money an institution spends on the system they use. More money buys you more flexibility.)

It seems really unfortunate that at a time of increasing media concentration, public libraries would go for a more corporate model of collection development. The internet is obviously a huge counter-balancing force to that trend, and public libraries provide access to it--but then I think their collections may be making themselves obsolete by narrowing down precisely at a time when the internet is exposing larger and larger chunks of the world. I'm just concerned that when patrons look for books or CDs or DVDs in the library's physical collection, they aren't going to find the sort of collection that would reflect the richly global view of the world that the internet provides.

RSLaRue (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:30 (seventeen years ago) link

And nowadays, library patrons don't like to sit at big tables with strangers as they read or study. They want to be alone, creating a need for individual carrels that take up even more space.

Fuck 'em. Let them go to grad. school if they want that.

RSLaRue (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:31 (seventeen years ago) link

After reading this thread, there is no doubt in my mind that quitting library school was the right decision.

Sara Robinson-Coolidge (Sara R-C), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:31 (seventeen years ago) link

I wish I had dropped out back when I was young and really had nothing to lose.

RSLaRue (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:35 (seventeen years ago) link

Library school = I have never been so drunk and stoned in my life

(I quit the job and went full-time)

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:37 (seventeen years ago) link

Also as far as storage goes: how about building some cheap remote storage sites, or renovating existing buildings for that purposes, rather than spending lots of money on new buildings that are architecturally dramatic, but don't necessarily offer much more room for collections?

Library school = I have never been so drunk and stoned in my life

I made my first reliable w33d connection in library school.

RSLaRue (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:39 (seventeen years ago) link

Also as far as storage goes: how about building some cheap remote storage sites, or renovating existing buildings for that purposes, rather than spending lots of money on new buildings that are architecturally dramatic, but don't necessarily offer much more room for collections?

Amen to that. We have "The Annex" for our storage purposes, but it's filling up. It's this cool old telephone company building not too far from campus. We have a fairly efficient Annex Request system running, too.

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:42 (seventeen years ago) link

I was turned off libraries for a long time by our ridiculous local one, which was essentially a small shed that charged more for three days' fines than the book cost to buy.

I fucking love our university one, though. The books it sells are truly dire, but that's because it keeps *everything*. The philosophy stacks are both great and obscure as all hell.

stet (stet), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:52 (seventeen years ago) link

Do you sell globes of Mars?

Well, the thing is that a lot of big bookshops do sell stuff like this. In the local Waterstone's there is a floor for travel books and they have an extensive selection of globes, including political, geographical and space ones. So it doesn't strike me as incredibly odd to ask this at something like Barnes & Noble. If it was asked in a library, however...

emil.y (emil.y), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 21:59 (seventeen years ago) link

Anyway, I recently had a patron express surprise that the library bought the books it owned. She thought they were all donations.

RSLaRue (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 22:43 (seventeen years ago) link

That's okay, I once had a customer ask me whether the books in our store were shelved by publisher.

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 22:53 (seventeen years ago) link

In which case, I am totally calling dibs on the Chronicle section.

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 22:54 (seventeen years ago) link

Ha ha, I had a customer insist at length that we should organize all the non-fiction alphabetically. I couldn't get him to understand the notion that we should keep the cookbooks separate from, say, the pregnancy books.

Sara Robinson-Coolidge (Sara R-C), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 22:56 (seventeen years ago) link

Cust, a normal-looking adult male who is STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORE: "Excuse me, where's your non-fiction section."
Me, confused: "Wellllllll...everything not signed 'Fiction' is non-fiction!"
Cust: "Okay. Uh. What's fiction?"
Me: "That section right over there. See? Under the sign reading 'Fiction'."
Cust: "No, I mean, what IS fiction?"

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:00 (seventeen years ago) link

Sadly, I run into a lot of people who don't know which is which.

RSLaRue (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:03 (seventeen years ago) link

Cust: "No, I mean, what IS fiction?"

You stopped the story too soon. What did you say to the customer then?

The PEW Research Center for Panty-Twisting (Rock Hardy), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:06 (seventeen years ago) link

I like when I meet students who pride themselves on never setting foot in the library. I want to slap them.

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:08 (seventeen years ago) link

I don't remember! I remember thinking that the definition he was looking for was probably "stories about things that aren't true" or "...that are made up" but I realized I couldn't remember a time I DIDN'T know what "fiction" was so I was scrambling for a dictionary-style def. and I balked at branding fic/lit as "untrue" to someone who didn't have his own ideas on the subject. Probably said something babyish like "stories that people make up out of their heads."

Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:09 (seventeen years ago) link

In my own small way, I actually increased the number of students who come into the library. This is because they have to have an activated library card to access e-reserves, while the formerly open reserve stacks are now closed. All of a sudden card activations shot way up...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:10 (seventeen years ago) link

Customers walk into bookstores less confidently than they would into, say, the Gap. Watching them from the register I'd notice them pausing momentarily by the door, getting their bearings, before proceeding (invariably) to me.

Alfred Soto (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:13 (seventeen years ago) link

I do not have to deal with students and/or reference questions anymore, which I sometimes miss. But, I do get to deal with books with subject headings such as:

650 0 Folk poetry, Spanish ǂz Spain ǂz Cartagena ǂx History and criticism.
650 0 Folk poetry, Spanish ǂz Spain ǂz Cartagena ǂx Criticism, Textual.
650 0 Miners ǂv Poetry.

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:14 (seventeen years ago) link

Enjoy our search catalog.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:16 (seventeen years ago) link

Customers walk into bookstores less confidently than they would into, say, the Gap.

Yeah, these people are my opposites then. I have no idea wtf I'm doing in clothing stores.

jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:18 (seventeen years ago) link

Ooh! It's nice, Ned! What OPAC do you use? We use SIRSI. Bleck.

I like that you can search by SuDoc number. I honestly don't know how many people would do a search with that, but it's a nice feature to have.

Here's ours (I don't love it)

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:20 (seventeen years ago) link

err, this is it

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:21 (seventeen years ago) link

What OPAC do you use?

Good ol' triple III. Sometimes it goes in fits and starts but ever since the major upgrade for reserves a few years back I've not had a major problem with it.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:22 (seventeen years ago) link

Ahh, Innovative! It's nice! We're having major issues with our new SIRSI upgrade, i.e. everybody hates it.

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:24 (seventeen years ago) link

We use SIRSI. Bleck.

OTM.

RSLaRue (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:26 (seventeen years ago) link

Do you hate the Java client too?

molly mummenschanz (molly d), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:27 (seventeen years ago) link

Actually, see you guys over here. Specifically here.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:32 (seventeen years ago) link

Also I'll have you know I was excellent at the reference desk, but people WOULD come in and say things like, "I'm looking for a book about yay big, and it's sort of blueish-grey. Do you know what book I mean?"
SURE, NO PROBLEM, LET ME SHOW YOU TO OUR BLUE BOOK SECTION.

Nautical books! They're always blue. I was poking around in the home of a retired Yacht Club president once (courtesy of his caretaker), and his bookcase was a symphony of blue.

Years ago I worked as a housecleaner for a woman who asked me to remove all the "thin books" from her bookshelves.

Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:39 (seventeen years ago) link

What OPAC do you use? We use SIRSI. Bleck.

I feel your pain. Anytime I have an urge to punch a computer screen, it's usually due to SIRSI (or something dumb like the dreamgirls thread).

The Many Faces of Gordon Jump (Leon), Thursday, 4 January 2007 01:01 (seventeen years ago) link

lmbo gear's a nerd

aidsy (aidsy), Thursday, 4 January 2007 03:35 (seventeen years ago) link

I have Horizon Syrsi Dynix:(

Okay, this is my hometown library system. Actually, it is not underfunded. Fairfax Co. is one of the richest areas in the country. And Fairfax Co. has a large, well-regarded suburban system. Right now, the system has an excellent collection. There are about 20 branches, so if you ever want something that is not at your local branch, you can get it pretty quickly. I work at the library system in the next city over, and between the two systems, I rarely want for books.

I had a class with the director of this library and he is very smart and proactive and has been director for about 20 years. He is influenced by business practices, such as increasing interoperability and ease of use and seamlessness. He is influenced by the movement from bank tellers to ATMs and tried to incorporate modern practices into the library system. I think that he wants to intorduce more public meeting spaces into the libraries, which will take the place of some book storage. He thinks that this is what the public wants. Fairfax County also does very proactive environmental scans to determine what their community base is and how to serve it.

I think (I hope) that this article may have been misreported. I can't really see the wisdom in getting rid of these classics. Probably better to weed the multiple copies of the really popular books that people aren't reading two years later after the buzz has died down. I think that they will at least keep copies of the classics at certain branch libraries, if not all. Hopefully Fairfax Co. will publish a response to this article, which left a lot of things unclear.

I'm not really into ILL so much. Part of the pleasure of the library comes from browsing and finding the unexpected. I think that ILL should be a last resort, for the rare item. The library that I work at, a small city library with four branches, has a excellent collection. But sometimes I feel like I am the only person who reads certain books. I'm not sure if this is problem of marketinng, or if their is just not such a great audience of literary fiction and academic-ic nonfiction. I'm really greatful that the selectors at my library have such great taste, but I think we could go more in the other direction, and offer more popular materials. Though I hate bestsellers and their like with a passion.

I don't have to babysit at all in my children's library. We are really lucky in that we are not immediately next to a school. Another branch is next to a junior high school and apparently the students use the library after school to hang out, but not to use the resources or anything.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing this story developing. My library is rolling out the e-audio-books right now with the Overdrive system. But I'm annoyed because Mac won't play nice with libraries and it only works on PCs.

Matilda Wormwood (Mary ), Thursday, 4 January 2007 03:40 (seventeen years ago) link

Rockist makes a good point by noting that the article cites librarians' discretion as far as keeping titles. The story also never says that "Mockingbird" is getting dumped, just that it falls under the criteria in at least one branch.

A Radio Picture (Factory Sample Not For Sale), Thursday, 4 January 2007 04:05 (seventeen years ago) link

There is no need to continually take up so much redundant space and time and kilowatts of climate control for anything out of copyright.

-- TOMB07


lmao, this thinking worked SOOOO well with microfilm

bill sackter (bill sackter), Thursday, 4 January 2007 04:25 (seventeen years ago) link

I think that ILL should be a last resort, for the rare item.

Obviously I check the local system (13 libraries including three university libraries) first when I want something, but if they don't have it, ILL isn't a first or last resort, it's the ONLY resort.

The PEW Research Center for Panty-Twisting (Rock Hardy), Thursday, 4 January 2007 04:39 (seventeen years ago) link

At this point, I visit the library in/near my hometown (Owings Mills, Md, the library's actually in Pikesville which is right down the road), and it's maybe 25% oldsters reading and scanning the shelves and getting online to do research and send emails; 5% tots riffling through the kids section or tagging along with thier parents; 10% 20/30 somethings doing the same thing; and 60% teens getting online to check out whatever porn they can get away with and myspace and play videogames, LOUDLY.

Ray Cummings (skateboardr), Thursday, 4 January 2007 12:53 (seventeen years ago) link

I have Horizon Syrsi Dynix:(

So do I! I feel your pain.

The Many Faces of Gordon Jump (Leon), Thursday, 4 January 2007 13:31 (seventeen years ago) link


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