gilana | (no subject)

You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him.
And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.
And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin' a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an organization.
And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day walking in singin' a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. And friends they may think it's a movement.

A friend who works at the BPL tells me that the Powers That Be have decided that the library as a system does not weed enough. They want to move to a system where any book (regardless of what it is) that has not gone out in two years according to the computer will be weeded. That is an ultimate system-wide goal, but they have further decided that they don't weed enough in the children's room specifically, so they will be running reports and sending in other staff people to do it for them, STARTING THIS WEEK.

I spent a lot of time in my local library growing up. I read a lot of the current favorites, but I also loved finding old books, unpopular books, obscure books, with stories and characters that spoke to me and helped me to believe that I was ok, that I would not be alone and friendless forever, helped me to get to be the person I am today. I'd really like for other kids to have that opportunity too, for majority rule to not be the way the library decides which books are worthwhile.

So here's my plan. If you can, go to the library. Check out your old favorite books -- books that changed your life, books that make you smile to remember them, books that you'd like that special kid to be able to stumble upon even if it's not Harry Potter or Twilight. You don't have to read them, heck, you don't even have to take them home -- you can just turn around and return them as soon as you've checked them out, if you want to.

If you have a book you love and you can't make it in, let me know, I'll try to find it and check it out myself (and probably read it, and maybe even buy a copy for my sister's kids.)

And if you like the idea, spread the word!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What an excellent idea! I may stop by the kid's section tonight on my way home.

Is there a way of getting hold of circulation reports and just making sure that all the books that are in danger of being censored (because that's exactly what this is) are checked out?

I think censorship is a more unpleasant word than is called for; libraries do not have infinite space, and library patrons do want to be able to check out new books, so they do have to get rid of old books in some fashion. You might disagree with the method they're using to choose, but it's unreasonable to want them to never get rid of books.

Yeah. My objection would be to how automated this method sounds. When I volunteered in the children's section of my public library, we had to do some serious weeding in YA, and while the librarian used a "hasn't been checked out in X long" system to identify which books needed to be considered, she also used her expertise in the subject (and mine, in a way!) to decide which ones ought to be kept even if they weren't circulating much. We also tried to find ways to promote the ones that weren't getting attention when we thought they deserved it. Sometimes buying a version with a better cover helped!

Agreed. I do understand that they have to get rid of some books; it's taking the librarians' judgment out of the picture that I mostly object to. Of course, they've cut the hours, too, so the librarians don't have *time* to deal with this, or many of the other things they would like to be doing...

Ah, that makes sense (and sucks). What a shame!

Or, steal the book, scan it, put it out on various download channels. At least that will preserve the text, and eventually the right children can find it.

Actually if the librarians were thinking ahead, they could advertise this sort of book for sale and make some money.

A) I'm not going to steal from the library.
B) I'm not going to steal from the authors (or even the publishers.)

They're not actually burning all copies of the book or anything -- I assume the books will still be available for sale, if they're in print, or possibly even at other libraries. It just makes me sad that they won't be there as hidden gems for kids to find. But the sale bit is not a bad idea at all. I wonder what they do do with them?

Isn't that where a lot of books at Friends of the Library Book Sales comes from -- library weeding? And I end up with a lot of ex-library editions when I buy used online (with "withdrawn" or "discarded" stamps in 'em). So they go somewhere...

...is not so much a "book person", but is intrinsically opposed to this notion that books which haven't circulated in 24 months are somehow undesirable to keep. That's rong. R-O-N-G rong.