and see if they still have those old books you wanted...or to see if they're now on sale
According to an article in the Washington Post, libraries in Fairfax county are becoming more ruthless in culling books from their shelves.
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.
The bibliophile in me shudders: libraries culling books this aggressively?!?? I’m guessing that megalibraries, like the New York City Public library, will keep older books in active circulation; and of course people can always request that unavailable books be sent from other branches. Still…that unnerves me. Some of the titles being culled from various Fairfax county branches include To Kill a Mockingbird, The Aenid, The Glass Menagerie, and Doctor Zhivago. Will these books be available electronically, as libraries continue to evolve? If so, who will manage that collection? I think I may have to start regularly attending local library sales now.
Keywords: | technology | information | books |
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