ozarque ([info]ozarque) wrote,
@ 2007-01-24 08:50:00
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The role of public libraries; saving the books...
The next requested topic comes from [info]rabidsamfan ....

"I'd be interested in discussing the role of public libraries, actually. Did anyone bring this article ['Checked Out: A Washington-area library tosses out the classics,' by John J. Miller, at http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110009472 ] to your attention? I'm a children's librarian, and a few years back my boss insisted on weeding every book in the collection that hadn't circulated in the past three years -- and this even though we were in a neighborhood where a lot of the children couldn't borrow books and used them in house. So I've got opinions about the library as 'university of the poor...' as well as 'entertainment center'. But it would be nice to see what response people think they should be able to find at the library. Old books as well as new? A professional librarian or a library employee without that kind of degree? ... Computers? Databases? DVDs? Videos? CDs? When space becomes an issue, where do the compromises come in?"


This issue (and the article) have gotten a lot of attention on the Net -- mostly shock and righteous indignation. The most common remedy suggested seems to be this one: Public library users should take upon themselves the responsibility of checking out the Indispensable Books once a year, for all age levels, so that none of those books will be removed from the shelves. (Presumably groups of library users would develop a system for dividing up this responsibility among them, something like the "telephone tree" system.) I understand the rationale behind that idea, but it brings with it a host of unanswered questions. Including, for starters, at least these four....

1. Who gets to decide which books are on the Indispensable Books list? [This is, it seems to me, the biggest question of all. I believe that many thousands of books would be taken off the shelves while the wrangle over answering this question was being endlessly debated.]

2. How is access to the final IB list provided?

3. What happens when, as fewer and fewer books qualify for removal from the shelves, the libraries start reducing the circulation frequency criterion to "checked out every six months" and then "checked out every four months" and so on?

4. A lot of the books likely to end up on the IB list are available free online, at sites like Project Gutenberg. Since not everyone can afford to be online, and the number of computers a library can make available to its users is going to be small, and it takes a very long time to read a book on a computer screen, is that fact even relevant? Does it make any difference? [This one brings a number of related questions; for example, the same question would come up for all the free books that are available to be read on PDAs.]

Over to you....

(Post a new comment)


[info]woodwardiocom
2007-01-24 03:12 pm UTC (link)
A lot of the books likely to end up on the IB list are available free online, at sites like Project Gutenberg.

-Hmm. My publisher, Steve Jackson Games, has decided that Print On Demand is now economically feasible for some of its products. I am now imagining a library where a patron asks for book X, which is not on the shelves, but is available in the public domain and online. The librarian uses an on-site POD system to produce the book, tags it as a new addition to the library's collection, checks it out to the patron, and then puts it on the shelf when it's returned (since there's a demonstrated demand).

(Reply to this)(Thread)

[info]tanac
2007-01-24 03:39 pm UTC (link)
Who pays for the POD system?

Who pays for the processing of the item to be added? (Processing costs staff time and materials, and those are real costs)

Which item gets weeded to make room for the POD item someone wants to read? (Most public libraries are so crunched for space that everything coming in means something else goes out)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)(Expand)
(no subject) - [info]woodwardiocom, 2007-01-24 04:15 pm UTC (Expand)

[info]ratmmjess
2007-01-24 03:22 pm UTC (link)
Another professional librarian here.

Further question: with all the Indispensable Books remaining on the bookshelves, and so taking up all that space, how do we determine what books get weeded in their place? Public libraries have a limited amount of space; if we (librarians) can't weed the "Indispensable Books," what can we weed, to make room for all the new books?

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(Anonymous)
2007-01-24 04:33 pm UTC (link)
Retired librarian here. Books weed themselves also - they get too worn to stay on the shelves, and they get stolen and lost and vandalized. Not fast enough, it sounds like. :)

Since the funding is public, I think at least some of the input should be public. Voluntary survey, maybe, something like: Which five or ten or 100 books do you think should be available for circulation at all times? The taxpayers sure speak up quick enough about which books they want off the shelves.

Meg Umans

(Reply to this)(Parent)

[info]leora
2007-01-24 11:59 pm UTC (link)
Not a librarian, but the answer is simple, obvious, and not going to happen :/ Give libraries more money and make them much bigger.

Much bigger, not just so they don't have to prune their collections so much (although some pruning is good, library book sales do enrich people's lives too... mmmm cheap books), but also to enlarge them. My problem with libraries is that why should I go to one when I can't get anything there?

Okay, I'm a special case, as I need large print books and the large print collection is often tiny. But beyond fixing that (and please do, really, I can only get audiobooks and Braille books mailed to me through the program for the blind, large print is specifically excluded and incredibly expensive), but also I can't look things up in a library. I miss being at college, because I had the ability to look things up, even if it was just idle curiousity. But libraries never have significant references for adults. Even in high school when I wanted to do a serious project, I had to use a program my local library had with a university over a half hour away by car to get access to resources, and then my father had to drive me there and back. I was very lucky to have a father who would do that, but not everyone can.

I want journal articles from serious journals. They don't even need to be in print, they can be on CD-ROMs. That's what I had at college, and I had access to basically every psychology paper published in the past 3 decades. Now, that's useful. And then you just need to print them out as you need them. I'd even be willing to help pay for printing. Especially if I can choose to print out the info at my choice of font size.

So, my solution, make libraries bigger and more useful. And then it'll be worth the effort to go there, and worth the taxes used to make them so big, beautiful, and helpful.

Yep, not going to happen. I know. But I am upset that people have to pay for journal articles that were written about studies that were funded by taxpayers. I know it's a complex problem, but I want access to that info. And if you make people able to access that info, you can put them into libraries, and then I could actually look stuff up at a library.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)(Expand)
(no subject) - [info]ratmmjess, 2007-01-25 12:11 am UTC (Expand)
(no subject) - [info]leora, 2007-01-25 12:22 am UTC (Expand)
(no subject) - [info]ratmmjess, 2007-01-25 12:29 am UTC (Expand)
(no subject) - [info]leora, 2007-01-25 12:35 am UTC (Expand)
(no subject) - [info]ratmmjess, 2007-01-25 12:41 am UTC (Expand)
(no subject) - [info]victoriacatlady, 2007-01-26 03:55 pm UTC (Expand)
(no subject) - [info]takumashii, 2007-01-25 12:32 am UTC (Expand)
(no subject) - [info]leora, 2007-01-25 12:36 am UTC (Expand)

[info]dale_in_queens
2007-01-24 03:26 pm UTC (link)
I have worked in urban libraries since 1984, from as small as 2,000 square feet to as large as 646,000 square feet. I'll be quiet for a while, as I am very interested in what people have to say about this. I does seem to me, from observation only, that what people say they want the public library to be and how they use it are different, sometimes very different. I'm sure I'll be chiming in from time to time; I do have strong and somewhat conflicted feelings about this topic. I chose this pomogranate userpic, thinking of libraries multiple offerings to you as something like the pomogranate seeds....

(Reply to this)

[info]idiotgrrl
2007-01-24 03:34 pm UTC (link)
Reading that, I decided the time is now. I hauled down the Great Books list from Google (which sent me to St. John's College) and started putting them on my monthly book budget. Pleasant surprise: the Penguin Classics are enormously affordable on Amazon.com and there are some very readable - marvelously interestiung translations out there.

I just finished the world's most famous war story (pencil in hand - loved it!) and just started on the sequel, the world's most famous postwar road novel. Robert Fagles, translator. A fun read, believe it or not.

How is this relevant? Because the Great Library Scandal sent me the same message Hurricane Katrina sent a lot of people. "Honey, you're on your own. Act now, or forever hold your peace." So I did.

Just my $0.02

(Reply to this)
The role of public libraries
[info]tanac
2007-01-24 03:37 pm UTC (link)
Speaking as someone who has worked in public libraries for 17 years, as everything from shelver to director...

Firstly, public libraries *must* weed (discard books). There simply isn't enough room or money to become repositories of books, no matter how wonderful they are, and continue to provide access to new materials. How this is accomplished is often a matter of debate, but librarians hate getting rid of books as much as anyone else, perhaps more - so do believe that they are doing so with the best of intentions and with as much devotion as possible to making sure that they're getting rid of the "right" books.

There's also a reason that most libraries are very selective about putting donated books into their collection. It takes money to catalog/process those materials - it's not a matter of "slapping on a barcode" and checking it out. It takes shelf space to house those materials - shelf space that means that some other item must be weeded (most public libraries are so crunched for space that every item coming in means one item going out).

Which gets to mission. There are at least seven possible "missions" for a public library, according to the last guideline I saw from any official organization - and each library can do no more than 3, possibly 4. Resource for self-educators is one possible mission, as is curriculum support for school-aged children. Recreational use (popular novels, films, audiobooks, etc.) is another. Public libraries CAN'T DO EVERYTHING - there isn't the time, the money, or the space. They have to choose.

If you want to know what your public library considers important, ask to see their mission statement. If you don't like what you see, go to the Board of Trustees/Directors meeting and let them know! Better yet, next time they're looking for people to serve on the board, apply. A lot of people have a lot of air to spend on how libraries should be run better, but very few are willing to put their own time and energy on the line.

(Reply to this)(Thread)
Re: The role of public libraries
[info]jenett
2007-01-24 04:17 pm UTC (link)
Excellent comments here. (I'm in the process of finishing my MLIS.)

With donations, I want to add something many people I've talked to don't realise: many items that get donated are not in great shape, or would have limited circulation for other reasons. (Paperbacks, for example, are generally considered to have a much shorter shelf life, in terms of number of people checking them out, because it's much easier to lose a cover, etc. even with reinforcement.)

And then there's all the horror stories about donated items which are really disgusting - everything from mold to human (or not human) excrement, bugs and other pests that eat paper, etc. Plus, it takes time and energy to sort through them, which is why a number of libraries shuttle it to the Friends of the Library volunteers, rather than paid staff.

Because of this, libraries are often more open to things like monetary donations (it's possible to set up an endowed fund at a number of libraries, for example, for a particular topic area, or just "books in general")

(Reply to this)(Parent)

[info]babalon_it
2007-01-24 03:48 pm UTC (link)
Okay - I know that the librarians are complaining about the lack of space. I understand that - having had to start considering weeding books from my collection I really trully understand. However, when did it become the libraries mission to stock the latest DVDs? Why is shelf space devoted to that? If there's a crunch for space - weed the dvds and vhstapes and other non-printed materials out and put back room for the books. Yes - a few computers are useful too - for getting access to information. But why the libraries started carrying videotapes, I never understood. Especially when they always complain about being crunched for money and space.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

[info]dale_in_queens
2007-01-24 04:23 pm UTC (link)
Think about it this way, perhaps. There are many people who think that parks should be urban woodlands, completely changed (well, maybe a path or two). Yet the parks that are full of people usually have food and rides and other activities.

Libraries have DVDs (and had LPs and have CDs) because a LOT of taxpaying citizens--who actively use libraries--want libraries to have them. It's just that simple.

When libraries are departments of local government, they must justify everything they do in terms of current use, not potential use by the next generation. I think there are some problems with that and urge everyone who doesn't like that approach to be actively involved in local politics, inclurding library boards.

This "business" view is affecting museums, parks, libraries, concert halls, and many other institutions.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

[info]archangelbeth
2007-01-24 05:18 pm UTC (link)
I don't know about movies, but Books On Tape should be in libraries, I'd think -- not everyone can see, after all. Educational-style DVDs wouldn't bother me, either.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)(Expand)
(no subject) - [info]babalon_it, 2007-01-24 05:20 pm UTC (Expand)
(no subject) - [info]asciikitty, 2007-01-24 05:28 pm UTC (Expand)
(no subject) - [info]babalon_it, 2007-01-24 05:46 pm UTC (Expand)
If this goes on--
[info]selenite
2007-01-24 04:22 pm UTC (link)
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge has a major plot thread about a library getting rid of all of its books in favor of electronic records. There's protests and a riot, intensified by the fact that the "digitization" process is both error-prone and irreversible.

(Reply to this)(Thread)
Re: If this goes on--
[info]archangelbeth
2007-01-24 05:20 pm UTC (link)
Backups. Lots and lots of backups, that carry over through updates.

Books fall apart too, and have to be re-done.

(Reply to this)(Parent)
Re: If this goes on--
[info]voxwoman
2007-01-24 07:03 pm UTC (link)
Ironically, I read that book courtesy of the public library (in their small shelf of "New SF" offerings). It was great.

(Reply to this)(Parent)
answering the questions directly
[info]dteleki
2007-01-24 04:24 pm UTC (link)
1. As a practical matter... if you want to help other people by checking out "Indispensable Books", then you will decide what books are on that list. There is no need, no need whatsoever, to wait for somebody else to tell you what to do, when it's so easy to decide for yourself and then just do it yourself. (This is the standard Ayn-Rand-style argument: Q: what will be done about poor people in Ayn Rand's perfect world? A: if YOU want to help them, nobody will try to stop you. In my opinion, this argument applies a lot better to this books-in-the-library issue than it does in the general case.)

2. Access to "the final IB books list" is provided by you inventing it in your own head. Access to it occurs by the process of you examining the interior of your own head.

3. If an arms race develops between you and the librarians, over the issue of how often a book has to be checked out in order to be retained, the librarians will win and you will lose. In that case, you'll have to find or invent a different strategy entirely. This could involve your inventing and implementing an entire library system that works the way you want it to, in order to defeat the fact that the existing public library system does not work the way you want it to. The best way to implement a library system that works the way you want it to, is probably (1) all-electronic / all-internet, like Project Gutenberg; (2) internet-plus-mail-order, like NetFlix; or (3) a privately-funded chain of branch libraries, paid for by you, that works the way you want it to. This issue isn't new; many of today's "public" libraries actually began as type (3), when they were funded by Andrew Carnegie. "Branch library" could be a hole-in-the-wall storefront, or it could be an end-table sitting in a volunteer's apartment. See my "modest proposal" post later.

4. "Since not everyone can afford to be online...". Computers and internet connections are getting cheaper all the time. Sooner or later they'll be cheap enough for anybody to afford with pocket money. Probably sooner, like 20 years from now. Cell phones already come close, today. At some point, computer-plus-internet will be cheaper than a subscription to the local newspaper; even today, "doesn't read the newspaper" is not necessarily caused by "can't afford the newspaper", because the newspaper is usually cheap enough that the price tag is not a good explanation for why you didn't read it, or at the very least not the entire explanation. The real explanation might turn out to be, "too overworked to read the newspaper"; there is no library system now existing or to be invented that can do anything to defeat that problem.

(Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)
Re: answering the questions directly - [info]redbird, 2007-01-25 01:09 am UTC (Expand)
decentralized.... - [info]houseboatonstyx, 2007-01-25 06:12 am UTC (Expand)
Re: answering the questions directly... response to dteleki... - [info]ozarque, 2007-01-25 02:14 pm UTC (Expand)
Re: answering the questions directly... response to dteleki... - [info]dteleki, 2007-01-25 03:12 pm UTC (Expand)
Re: answering the questions directly... response to dteleki... - [info]dteleki, 2007-01-25 03:44 pm UTC (Expand)

[info]takumashii
2007-01-24 04:36 pm UTC (link)
Any decent library system will run 'dusty book' reports to see which books haven't been checked out in a year or two years or three years; at the same time, any decent library system should employ professional librarians whose job it is to know which books are Indispensable, which books are Indispensable But Not Right Here, and which books are dispensable.

(The local county system has branches from 30,000 square feet to 2500 square feet. It's unthinkable for the 2500 sf branch to have every Indispensable book and also have room for the recent and popular books, but if you can get it from one of the larger libraries in 3-4 days, isn't that good enough? You can get nearly any book from Interlibrary Loan, though it may take a couple weeks--is that okay for some Indispensable books?)

Librarians love to see high circulation figures, and they're the only things some high-up management types understand, so anyone who thinks they're helping things by checking out obscure books is welcome to do so. But in the medium term, lobby for libraries to get more space, more money, more professionals-- and even if we had all that, we would still need to weed...

(In the long term, I'm optimistic that POD might be a solution).

(Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)
(no subject) - [info]takumashii, 2007-01-24 04:39 pm UTC (Expand)
a modest POD proposal, part 1 of 2
[info]dteleki
2007-01-24 04:59 pm UTC (link)
If the existing public library system develops in a direction that is not to some people's liking, here's an idea for an alternative that could be founded and funded by those people: a hole-in-the-wall storefront "library" that is in fact a miniature print-on-demand shop.

I vaguely recall a statistic from the Chicago Public Library from a few years back: total operating costs for the entire Chicago Public Library system for the entire year, divided by total quantity of items checked out during that year, equals about $4 per item checked out. If the library system didn't actually own the real estate that the library branches are built on top of and live inside of, and instead had to pay market rental rates for all that space, the price tag per item would have been higher. That's well within shouting distance of the price tag for just plain giving away paperback books to people to keep forever, to build libraries of their own at home, instead of being obliged to give the books back. The price of laser-printing books one at a time is within shouting distance of that.

Based on my own experiments, I conclude that a 75,000 word novel can be book-on-demand printed on both sides of 21 sheets of legal-sized paper, in about 9 minutes, consuming approximately $2.50 of toner and paper and saddle-staples. The size of the text is similar to a mass-market paperback, and the quality and readability and even beauty are slightly better. The printer can automatically print on both sides of the paper, and it costs about $350 brand new. The computer could be the cheapest and worst used cast-off computer on the market, costing perhaps $400; this could be a four-year-old laptop with built-in CD-ROM drive. The computer and printer and stapler together are small enough to fit on a cheap end-table somewhere; that "somewhere" could be inside the apartment of a volunteer, even if that apartment is a studio apartment.

I deliberately used really cheap equipment in my tests. Namely, the deliberately cheapskate equipment that I already own. Fancier, more expensive equipment could do the job faster and better, but probably not cheaper per book.

The prototype system, as I've put it together, is too complicated and clumsy for ordinary people to operate; but it could be easily streamlined by any technically-knowledgeable person who wanted to bother. I estimate that it takes about 3 hours of my labor to convert that 75,000 word novel into the proper format; with a certain amount of programming and automation, it could probably be streamlined down to 10 minutes of labor per novel converted, with all the novels supplied copyright-free by Project Gutenberg. The process would only have to be done ONCE per novel, and the results could be distributed electronically via the Internet in the Project Gutenberg manner, or physically via mail on CD or DVD. More highly-formatted text, such as poetry, would probably remain labor-intensive forever; I tried converting the collected poems of Emily Dickinson into my format, and it took a lot of trial and error.

A 75,000 word novel consumes about 1/2 megabyte of disk space. A single-layer DVD can hold about 9,000 such novels, and costs about $2 if manufactured in quantity 1000, and that includes a self-mailer jacket. First-class mail costs 39 cents per DVD in quantity 1, less if bulk mail is used. If the library is to contain more than 9,000 volumes, use more DVD's. Using double-layer DVD's instead of single-layer ones costs more per DVD but reduces the total cost. At these prices, the whole library can be brought out in a new edition every month and mass-mailed to the branch libraries every month. Bonus: the librarian can choose to simply give last month's slightly-outdated edition of the library to a library patron who owns a suitable computer -- after 1 year, 12 patrons per library branch now own complete, if slightly outdated, libraries of their own.

(Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)
Re: a modest POD proposal, part 1 of 2 - [info]archangelbeth, 2007-01-24 05:28 pm UTC (Expand)
Re: a modest POD proposal, part 1 of 2 - [info]zvi_likes_tv, 2007-01-24 07:03 pm UTC (Expand)
Re: a modest POD proposal, part 1 of 2 - [info]dteleki, 2007-01-24 08:41 pm UTC (Expand)
Re: a modest POD proposal, part 1 of 2 - [info]zvi_likes_tv, 2007-01-24 09:12 pm UTC (Expand)
Re: a modest POD proposal, part 1 of 2 - [info]dteleki, 2007-01-24 09:55 pm UTC (Expand)
Re: a modest POD proposal, part 1 of 2 - [info]hagsrus, 2007-01-25 12:31 am UTC (Expand)
Re: a modest POD proposal, part 1 of 2 - [info]dteleki, 2007-01-25 03:57 am UTC (Expand)
Re: a modest POD proposal, part 1 of 2... response to dteleki.... - [info]ozarque, 2007-01-25 02:09 pm UTC (Expand)
a modest POD proposal, part 2 of 2
[info]dteleki
2007-01-24 05:11 pm UTC (link)
I have never before publicly described these experiments of mine. There is no point in bothering, because none of the elements are new. Everything that I tried is already public knowledge, publicly available, and has already been discussed by various people in various print and electronic forums; everything that I have mentioned is old hat. The only possible novelty in what I have done -- and anybody could have done it -- is the actual price tag measurements (e.g. $2.10 material cost) and the time measurements.

Who pays for the POD system? Anybody who wants to. A privately-funded philanthropic foundation could probably do the job the fastest. The whole thing is cheap enough so that there could easily be several such foundations, all doing the same thing in somewhat different ways. The existing public libraries might be persuaded to physically host the end-table-and-equipment, perhaps even to pay for the supplies, conceivably even to chip in on the equipment. The patrons of the POD system could be asked to chip in on the material costs too, perhaps 50 cents or $1 per book. Remember, this is a book to keep, forever, not just a book to borrow. (Although physically it's really a pamphlet, not a book.)

If one of my hypothetical POD Library Foundations became conspicuously successful, or better yet if several of them became conspicuously successful, government at some level might find itself shamed into doing yet another version of it. It might even be one of the traditional public library systems, or a consortium of them, that got shamed into doing it. But if not, there's no harm done -- because my hypothetical POD Library Foundations don't actually need the traditional public library systems in order to function.

Who pays to add new items to the collection on DVD? The philanthropic foundation does. 3 hours of volunteer labor per novel. Perhaps 10 minutes of volunteer labor per novel if it's automated. It only has to be done once, per novel, per foundation. Note that we're piggy-backing on the work of the Project Gutenberg Foundation here; Project Gutenberg is supplying the original content, whereas my hypothetical POD Library Foundations are performing one form (and not the only form) of distribution of that content.

Where do you put the returns? Nowhere. Because there aren't any. Ever.

(Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)
Re: a modest POD proposal, part 2 of 2 - [info]takumashii, 2007-01-24 05:28 pm UTC (Expand)
Re: a modest POD proposal, part 2 of 2 - [info]dteleki, 2007-01-24 06:43 pm UTC (Expand)
Re: a modest POD proposal, part 2 of 2 - [info]dteleki, 2007-01-24 09:11 pm UTC (Expand)

[info]archangelbeth
2007-01-24 05:27 pm UTC (link)
While not everyone can afford being online...

Till POD -- or transfer to an iPhone, PDA, or other hand-held computer device -- is more feasible, books which aren't checked out often, but are online? I can see weeding the physical copies.

(Reply to this)

[info]voxwoman
2007-01-24 07:09 pm UTC (link)
Personally, I think that there should be wider use of the InterLibrary Loan system, especially within counties. (here where I live, it seems each town has it's own, independent system.)

That way, the "burden" of keeping IB books would be shared among many libraries, and books that are checked out infrequently will still be available.

(Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)
(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2007-01-24 07:38 pm UTC (Expand)
(no subject) - [info]voxwoman, 2007-01-24 08:38 pm UTC (Expand)

[info]dark_phoenix54
2007-01-24 08:46 pm UTC (link)
Of course I expect to find old books as well as new! I personally use the library as both university of the poor and as entertainment center. The idea of a public library is to serve *all* the people of the community, not just the studious or those in search of an evenings light read.

Our library (small town/rural area) used to have the problem of having to weed out unpopular books all the time. Why? There was no space left. The place was actually in violation of accessability codes because the shelves were so close together, trying to squeeze more in! It took us *years* to get a levy passed to build a larger library (the old one took up all available space & could not be added on to; there was not enough parking on top of that!) Now the problem is temporarily resolved, but in 15 years it'll be back with us again. Try as anyone might, there just is no good solution to this. It is partly helped by a very good and very fast interlibrary loan system, but with limited funds, we are kept to 24 per person per year- an improvement over the 6 per year it was for a good while.

On line reading is *not* the solution, unless one is just browsing a reference book. To actually read something is a total PITA on a computer- it's uncomfortable, and if you have slow dial up, it takes forever.

While technology can't help the book situation, it is helping with other space issues. Our library phased out the vinyl records a number of years ago; you can fit a *lot* more CDs in the same space. The same with DVDs vs VCR tapes- at least double the amount in the same space. Sadly, this screws over those without the funds for the newer technologies, but something has to give, and this is how our library has dealt with it. Computer access has replace a number of the books on the reference shelves- mainly the ones that have new editions put out every year. They are kept more up to date, with less physical space used.

The idea of people checking out Indispensible Books to keep them from being dumped is rather odd. If you have to *make* people check them out- presumably not to read, but just to fool the computer system, are they *really* indispensible?

(Reply to this)

[info]msminlr
2007-01-24 11:01 pm UTC (link)
The Book Guys on NPR had the director of the Fairfax County Library on their show this week, talking about this exact article.

The short answer is, the reporter did a really shitty job.

The most outstanding example is the copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird" which was about to be "de-acquisitioned" because it had not been circulated in over 2 years.
The reason?
It had been stolen.

The library does, however, have 329 other copies of TKAM in its various branches.

On the other hand, it *is* impressive that the library has an inventory program so detailed it can track individual copies of books.

(Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)
(no subject) - [info]msminlr, 2007-01-24 11:15 pm UTC (Expand)
Response to msminlr... - [info]ozarque, 2007-01-25 02:06 pm UTC (Expand)
Re: Response to msminlr... - (Anonymous), 2007-01-25 10:11 pm UTC (Expand)
L-space for books -- nothing ever discarded
[info]hagsrus
2007-01-25 12:19 am UTC (link)
The book was the key to it. He was sure of that. Well, there was one way to find out what was in the book. It was a perilous way, but the Librarian ambled along per­ilous ways all day.
In the silence of the sleeping library he opened his desk and removed from its deepest recesses a small lan­tern carefully built to prevent any naked flame being ex­posed. You couldn't be too careful with all this paper around . . .

He also took a bag of peanuts and, after some thought, a large ball of string. He bit off a short length of the string and used it-to tie the badge around his neck, like a talis­man. Then he tied one end of the ball to the desk and, after a moment's contemplation, knuckled off between the bookshelves, paying out the string behind him.

Knowledge equals power. . .

The string was important. After a while the Librarian stopped. He concentrated all his powers of librarianship.

Power equals energy . . .

People were stupid, sometimes. They thought the Li­brary was a dangerous place because of all the magical books, which was true enough, but what made it really one of the most dangerous places there could ever be was the simple fact that it was a library.

Energy equals matter. . . .

He swung into an avenue of shelving that was appar­ently a few feet long and walked along it briskly for half an hour.

Matter equals mass.

And mass distorts space. It distorts it into polyfractal L-space.

So, while the Dewey system has its fine points, when you're setting out to look something up in the multidi­mensional folds of L-space what you really need is a ball of string.

"Guards! Guards!" by Terry Pratchett

(Reply to this)

(Anonymous)
2007-01-29 04:21 pm UTC (link)
I think there should be a basic list of classics that all libraries should have in stock, no matter how seldom they're checked out. Who constructs the list, and where does the money come from (since I also believe in having current popular titles available for those who can't afford to buy them)? I confess I don't know. I'm also distressed at the very notion of "weeding" older books, because where else can the non-computer-savvy people (who therefore don't search for reading material on abebooks.com and alibris.com) going to find out-of-print popular fiction? Another phenomenon that greatly distressed me was the discovery that our little branch library on the corner no longer carries MS magazine, because the circulation of back issues dropped too low. ??? In the first place, that says nothing about how many people were reading the current issue onsite. More importantly, I also believe certain periodicals are "indispensable" and should be carried even if public "demand" seems limited, and MS is one of them. I don't like it enough to subscribe to it anymore, but I like to read an occasional article and don't want to have to go to the main branch to do so. What I really want, I guess, is an infinitely expandable library like the one at Unseen University in Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

(Reply to this)

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