A concerned taxpayer recently told me about the library throwing out a large number of books:
I take my kids to the downtown library a few times a week. I have noticed on a number of occasions that there are people dumping books into the dumpsters behind the buildings. When I asked [someone at the library] what was going on she said that the library was eliminating thousands of books from their collection. I was told that they are also removing most of the magazines and older books that have been stored in the basement level. She said that most all eliminated material is being thrown away and hardly any of it is being donated.
Well, that was certainly a provocative tip! I immediately wrote to library director Ed Szynaka, and he forwarded my inquiry to assistant director Leann Johnson. She basically confirmed what I was told and gave me the following explanation:
Withdrawing items from the collection is an ongoing process for libraries and Peoria Public Library locations strive to maintain an up-to-date and useful collection as well as a strong local history and genealogy collection. As observed, materials are discarded and the reported comment as to the number of items refers to an intensified effort to get the collection in good condition before the imminent building project begins. That being said, this is a very tough thing for librarians to do as we, like all book lovers, find it hard to let go of books of any kind. But the reality of the renovation of the Main Street Library has taken hold and we are now making the decisions that have been on the back burner for a long time.
I appreciate your asking if we donate books and about the library’s policy. Most of the materials are given to the Friends of the Library for their book sales. Proceeds from the book sales then support the wide variety of programs offered by the Library. Other recent cooperative efforts include working with Thomas Jefferson school after the fire, providing childrens’ books to a local church group for a school library in Louisiana, housing a collection of older materials related to the Civil War in the reading room of the GAR Hall, and working with Eastern Illinois University to transfer a large collection of government documents known as the Serial Set to an academic setting where the material is more likely to be used and stored appropriately. Materials that don’t get sold, donated, or recycled are then discarded. We do recycle and would like to recycle more. To my knowledge no recyclers in the area accept hardbound books. We continue to try to locate a recycler who will.
The answer to which books get eliminated and which are retained is a long one and depends on a variety of factors including general condition, outdated information (particularly in the areas of science, medicine and law), demand, copyright dates along with last date circulated, duplicate copies, superseded editions. These guidelines vary based on the subject (Dewey number) or genre. We do have a Collection Management Policy as well as “Weeding” Guidelines for withdrawing materials from the collection. The guidelines are adapted from The CREW Method: Expanded Guidelines for Collection Evaluation and Weeding for Small and Medium-Sized Public Libraries by Belinda Boon. Older materials present another challenge altogether and we take into consideration local topics that provide insight into the history of our area, historic events, unusual topics or unique items.
I hope this helps to answer your questions.
The acronym “CREW” in “The CREW Method” stands for “Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding.” You can read about this method at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission website.
I might have to go dumpster diving.
This “throwing out process” occurred at Manual several years ago–hundreds of books. I brought a few home, but I was truly upset by the “old” books that were just tossed. I was glad that I no longer had classes that required term papers because most of the good history books (probably out of print ) were disposed of. The library shelves were virtually empty. The argument was that the computer age was taking over.
I’m sure the Junior League would take some of these useless books for their Julep’s Closet sale.
“Fahrenheit 451” AAAH! Well, I guess I won’t be donating any more books to the library.
“Well, it’s a job just like any other. Good work with lots of variety. Monday, we burn Miller; Tuesday, Tolstoy; Wednesday, Walt Whitman; Friday, Faulkner; and Saturday and Sunday, Schopenhauer and Sartre. We burn them to ashes and then burn the ashes. That’s our official motto.”
http://www.peoriareads.org/
…and my department requires students to buy brand new reprints of text editions every two years…. can’t have students using used books… especially for subjects like US History… maybe something about the early American colonies changed last year.
More myths shattered. I wrote reams and reams of blogs before the city dumped $27 million into absolutely and totally unneeded libraries and library renovations. Tripling the size of the absolutely UNDERUTILIZED Lincoln library and millions for the dowwntown library that the library board seriously considered closing in about 1999 thru 2001.
What’s a million here there these days. Billions will be the most widely used word by 2020.
My question: What happens if Julep’s Closet can’t sell them? Do they accept responsible for the perpetual ownership of these books, since the standard seems to be that books cannot be tossed, ever?
I hate seeing any book tossed. And while I appreciate any excuse to dump on the people who pushed that stupid library referendum on us, I’ve gotta side with Ed Szynaka. This is NOT burning books. This is NOT censorship. Let’s take a deep breath.
kcdad:
I don’t always get you sometimes but that last post was funnhy!
I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but as a recycler I’m always suspect when items are thrown out instead of recycled. I will take the library’s word that they have performed proper triage, but very few things that aren’t transparent are done properly.
I understand the need to keep things at a manageable level, but I thought one of the values of the library system was to maintain our history and artifacts. I hope first editions and out of print books were reviewed so that they are available elsewhere in the library system.
If the general public had known, would they have been interested in picking up some of the books. As a collector of chess books I might have been interested in any chess materials that aren’t already in my collection. Were the used book stores notified? What about nursing homes and others who might maintain private libraries?
As far as the “computer age” argument goes, it is somewhat bogus. In spite of the Gutenberg Project and the Google attempts to chronicle printed matter, the copyright laws remain a major impediment to online availability of material. Very few of us living today will be alive when the current copyrights run out.
Yes, kcdad, something has changed in the early American colonies last year. Somebody rewrote their history, along with a lot of other history, so it’s “politically correct” (a/k/a propaganda). No, they aren’t burning books. The disposal company carts them to a nice, safe, dry place where they are preserved in case we want them back. Which, of course, we never will because we have the internet. Yes, folks, welcome to Fahrenheit 451. It’s here, now.
Of course, ALL History is propaganda… it just depends upon who is doing the propagandizing.
I have to agree with Murell. My initial knee-jerk reactions were the typical anger, sadness, waste. In the end though, I trust they went through a decent screening process. I’ve met several people over the years who work at our libraries and it seems like the vast majority of them do have a true love of books and sharing them with as many people as possible.
I too wish they would have at least tried to give them away. I’m sure if they would’ve called the local news outlets most of them would’ve published or ran something about a week long book giveaway.