[wrycoder]

My town votes 50/50 Republican/Democrat, yet our newly rebuilt library is filled with lib/women oriented non-fiction and contemporary women’s pulp fiction. They no longer even have paper sets of encyclopedias. It’s not possible to learn much about science or technology there anymore - they weeded much of that out during the remodeling.

[fuzzer371]

> They no longer even have paper sets of encyclopedias

Honest question from someone who has never actually had to use a paper encyclopedia. Do they still print paper encyclopedias?

[amanaplanacanal]

They are likely stocking the books their users are asking for. If you ask for something else I'm sure they can get that too.

[dahart]

> They no longer even have paper sets of encyclopedias.

Why would they? With Wikipedia being freely and always available and up to date, and most/all for-profit encyclopedias being online now, who goes to the library to use a paper encyclopedia? Have you used a paper encyclopedia recently? I haven’t for decades, but I still visit the library. Google tells me World Book is the only encyclopedia left doing print runs, and it’s more geared toward students, so maybe only purchased by schools. I wouldn’t hold up paper encyclopedias as evidence of what the library has or doesn’t have.

[grandempire]

It’s safe to say the market who purchases books is women, under the age of 40.

[alabastervlog]

Women reading mostly romance and the occasional “young adult” fantasy book is practically the only market left for authors, if they want to sell fiction.

[djeastm]

>They no longer even have paper sets of encyclopedias.

They don't publish many of them anymore as paper sets.

I used to love them, but Wikipedia changed everything

[dpkirchner]

Bummer. Do you have to go far to find another library that has paper encyclopedias when you need to look up some texts?

[9x39]

Science and tech is obsolete like the format of paper encyclopedias? (It isn't.)

It's worth considering if a short-term focus on stocking fad romantasy comes at the long-term expense of a body of knowledge. Consider the classic value of college degrees - they're (largely) not optimized for fad pop knowledge or even vocational skills, instead optimizing for a rounded body of knowledge considered to be broadly 'educated'.

[BeFlatXIII]

Tyranny of the busiest patrons.