A surprising number of people don’t seem to understand how public libraries do collection management. Do you see new books when you go to the library? Does the library have infinite shelf space? They throw out books at roughly the same rate they acquire new ones. If books don’t circulate for a long period (I.e. no one has looked at it in five years), that book is going in the dumpster. It had basically negative value. Most books donated to libraries are worthless, but the donors can’t bring themselves to throw them out, so they have the library do it for them.
“Little free libraries” have similar problems where they just fill up with books no one wants unless their collections get actively culled.
This is a fun story, but only in the same way as articles talking about homeless people rigging their cardboard shanties with solar powered LEDs or something. These people would be much better served by a public library.
Sometimes I think that policy abdicates the trust we have in libraries. I used to check out a little-used book, published in 1881, which was a history of our local town going back to its founding. With source material from the people who slept on cloaks under a tree before the first sod was turned.
One day I looked for it, and it was gone. Probably victim to one of those book purges. And I was upset. Not that the book was valuable, and probably went for $1 at a jumble sale. But because it was irreplaceable.
If our own library will not preserve books about our own local history, then who will? How can this source material ever, ever be reconstituted again? How can anybody in charge have thought this was a good idea?
Some anecdotes: I spent $30k on computer and electronic engineering books in the past 6 months. Yes really. A lot of them were those culled library books sold by wholesalers on Amazon and library benevolent foundations. There is still a long list of ISBNs (and some IBM/AT&T/standard body private publications) I'd pay a ton of money to buy but cannot because there is nowhere to buy them; the copies are not on any digital market place and/or have largely been destroyed.
The issue is books have an inherent physical logistical problem. A city library has a relatively small demographic; the high hit rate books will be relatively easy to stock but getting the long tail right will be nearly impossible. I don't know the right solution to that, but something akin to the netflix DVD distribution model might be a better fit going forward for libraries. Most people can't afford to build a private library like I did.
As for my own justification, I _love_ physical books. I much prefer it to reading on a screen or even epaper. It is a visceral context switch to go "offline" and stare at paper vs any digital system. There are other things that aren't necessarily apparent as well -- press printing a book is an expensive proposition. Therefore, getting the typesetting, copy editing, paper quality etc done right the first time is paramount. I just don't see that on most epublication. Even press printings that are sent for epublishing more often than not look completely haphazard in page layout.
It's a free way to stock a new library. People would probably be better served by a dedicated, funded public library, but if that isn't forthcoming then this is a good "second best" approach. It's certainly better than no library.
A few donation centers near where I live no longer accept books because it is costing them money to dispose of them. Outside of books that might have special interest; I had a few proofs/advanced copies I have sold and even purchased. A few first prints of some novels are valuable as well but a library or other won't know that. In the end, if you don't need the space just keep them on display. If you have lots they work great as a sound break on a wall you have noise issues with
At least when you donate to the library, there's a chance they'll think one of those books is worth including in their circulation.
Although I "donate" to Half-Priced Books (sell, but at a pittance), who would then donate what they don't sell to the library, who would then throw the book away, so I have an extra layer of abstraction in my process, and presumably HPB thinks they can sell a few of my books.
Everywhere I've lived, the public library has a massive annual book sale. Also, we keep building new branches -- at least 4 here in the past 20 years.
I don't doubt that they also throw many in the trash, but given that there's a steady outflow of books back into the community, and that total shelf space is generally increasing, I don't see why it'd be illogical to believe that no books got dumped.
My college library had multiple floors. They decided with their grand collective genius, to replace the entire first floor with a knockoff Starbucks "cafe", and tons of Apple computers and tablets (99% of which were just used for Facebook).
They moved the good books upstairs, but any book that didn't make the cut, was literally thrown out. They announced it and you could see a generation gap. I was almost in my 30's. The 18 year olds didn't seem to mind (though some did, I'm not bashing 18 year olds). But anyone my age or older, was appalled. They wouldn't let you buy the books. They wouldn't even let you just take them. They had to be burned. BURNED.
Some of the older students (30+) literally said "Fuck it." and went out of their way to smuggle books out of the library past the theft detectors. They all had their different (strong!) personal reasons for "protecting history" or "not being apart of burning books."
As long as people like that exist--people willing to fight stupid decisions by people at the top--I think we're going to be okay in the long run.
And that reminds me of working for Sam's Club for 5+ years. We threw out so much food that was "out of date" when there were literally homeless people half a mile away. We kept telling management it was wrong but they said "We can't give it away because of liability reasons."
(Which I think is bullshit because you can make someone sign away their liability. And Good Samaritan laws exist.) But the real proof that it was bullshit was 10 years later, they now... actually give away day-old food to the local food banks. (Now I'm getting flashbacks of Elaine giving away Muffin stumps to the Foodbank. I should stop now before I derail into another dimension.)
I was completely puzzled by this headline for a few seconds. I wondered why CNN would run a technical article about open libraries for GC. And what the heck do "abandoned books" have to do with anything. Context is everything.
This is really clever. I periodically prune my library to make room for more stuff, and always feel a bit guilty about throwing away perfectly good books. I tried selling them, but either no one is interested or the offers are so low they hover in the no-man's-land between insult and nuisance.
I guess the solemn judgement of the market is that used paperbacks are mostly worthless.
People in my town have started erecting tiny libraries -- a little outdoor cabinet on a post, with a door and a roof -- where people can stash books they're done with. There's no expectation that the books will be returned, just passed on. Seems like a nice idea, although I've not gone near them because I'm afraid I'd take books and never leave any, book hoarder that I am.
The secondhand life of books is an ongoing fascination of mine. I liked an NPR piece about where books go after they are donated[0]. Mostly to giant warehouses trying to flip them on Amazon for a few cents at scale...or something more exotic, like "books-by-the-foot" sellers.
EDIT: also a little about Amazon's "penny books" [1].
If you are ever passing through Cooke City Montana, stop by the garbage dump. They have a building with all kinds of books, artwork, etc. that they have salvaged from the garbage.
That brick factory building is beautiful, if you can ignore the roof of what looks like sheet metal that was probably a more modern addition. I have no idea how old it may be- 18th century, maybe? 17th? The arched entrances in the front look designed to allow horse carts inside...
An aside: the title is a great example of context sensitivity. On first glance, I interpreted the title as some serious bug in garbage collection algorithms/Systems (as in, they open some library that was an abandonware).
[+] [-] mechagodzilla|8 years ago|reply
“Little free libraries” have similar problems where they just fill up with books no one wants unless their collections get actively culled.
This is a fun story, but only in the same way as articles talking about homeless people rigging their cardboard shanties with solar powered LEDs or something. These people would be much better served by a public library.
[+] [-] JoeAltmaier|8 years ago|reply
One day I looked for it, and it was gone. Probably victim to one of those book purges. And I was upset. Not that the book was valuable, and probably went for $1 at a jumble sale. But because it was irreplaceable.
If our own library will not preserve books about our own local history, then who will? How can this source material ever, ever be reconstituted again? How can anybody in charge have thought this was a good idea?
[+] [-] kev009|8 years ago|reply
The issue is books have an inherent physical logistical problem. A city library has a relatively small demographic; the high hit rate books will be relatively easy to stock but getting the long tail right will be nearly impossible. I don't know the right solution to that, but something akin to the netflix DVD distribution model might be a better fit going forward for libraries. Most people can't afford to build a private library like I did.
As for my own justification, I _love_ physical books. I much prefer it to reading on a screen or even epaper. It is a visceral context switch to go "offline" and stare at paper vs any digital system. There are other things that aren't necessarily apparent as well -- press printing a book is an expensive proposition. Therefore, getting the typesetting, copy editing, paper quality etc done right the first time is paramount. I just don't see that on most epublication. Even press printings that are sent for epublishing more often than not look completely haphazard in page layout.
[+] [-] onion2k|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] Shivetya|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cableshaft|8 years ago|reply
Although I "donate" to Half-Priced Books (sell, but at a pittance), who would then donate what they don't sell to the library, who would then throw the book away, so I have an extra layer of abstraction in my process, and presumably HPB thinks they can sell a few of my books.
[+] [-] ken|8 years ago|reply
I don't doubt that they also throw many in the trash, but given that there's a steady outflow of books back into the community, and that total shelf space is generally increasing, I don't see why it'd be illogical to believe that no books got dumped.
[+] [-] jlarocco|8 years ago|reply
But yeah, after that they go to the recycling bin or dumpster.
[+] [-] katastic|8 years ago|reply
My college library had multiple floors. They decided with their grand collective genius, to replace the entire first floor with a knockoff Starbucks "cafe", and tons of Apple computers and tablets (99% of which were just used for Facebook).
They moved the good books upstairs, but any book that didn't make the cut, was literally thrown out. They announced it and you could see a generation gap. I was almost in my 30's. The 18 year olds didn't seem to mind (though some did, I'm not bashing 18 year olds). But anyone my age or older, was appalled. They wouldn't let you buy the books. They wouldn't even let you just take them. They had to be burned. BURNED.
Some of the older students (30+) literally said "Fuck it." and went out of their way to smuggle books out of the library past the theft detectors. They all had their different (strong!) personal reasons for "protecting history" or "not being apart of burning books."
As long as people like that exist--people willing to fight stupid decisions by people at the top--I think we're going to be okay in the long run.
And that reminds me of working for Sam's Club for 5+ years. We threw out so much food that was "out of date" when there were literally homeless people half a mile away. We kept telling management it was wrong but they said "We can't give it away because of liability reasons." (Which I think is bullshit because you can make someone sign away their liability. And Good Samaritan laws exist.) But the real proof that it was bullshit was 10 years later, they now... actually give away day-old food to the local food banks. (Now I'm getting flashbacks of Elaine giving away Muffin stumps to the Foodbank. I should stop now before I derail into another dimension.)
[+] [-] gasgiant|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ManuelHeL|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dvirsky|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] johan_larson|8 years ago|reply
I guess the solemn judgement of the market is that used paperbacks are mostly worthless.
[+] [-] sevensor|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] manigandham|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] teddyh|8 years ago|reply
http://www.threepanelsoul.com/comic/dealers-dilemma
[+] [-] tdvorak|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DaveWalk|8 years ago|reply
EDIT: also a little about Amazon's "penny books" [1].
[0] https://www.wnyc.org/story/business-books-foot-2/ [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/magazine/a-penny-for-your...
[+] [-] irrational|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] YeGoblynQueenne|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ratbr|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ggm|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] drngdds|8 years ago|reply
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeding_(library)
[+] [-] encoderer|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joaojeronimo|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] reuben364|8 years ago|reply
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_path_sentence
[+] [-] kaushikt|8 years ago|reply
Not a clickbait though
[+] [-] thibran|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]