ooh, subversive

[owlmoose]

I am finding it rather amusing that the day I reference Nicholson Baker in a post is the day I spent doing the librarian chore he so abhors: throwing away books. Yes, that's right, sometimes I throw out books. Shock, horror! It is the dirty little secret of librarianship. Yes, I know, "every book, its reader", but some books reach a point where that just isn't true any longer, and you have to chuck them. I feel no guilt for not trying to find a home for medical textbooks that are over twenty years old. Or ten-year old first aid guides. In some cases, that can be worse than nothing. So out they go.

One of my biggest complaints about Baker is his tone, the impression he leaves that librarians are gleefully cackling over the books and newspapers they throw away. But I have to admit, there was something satisfying about getting rid of these. Most of them were already "deselected" from another library. They were of no use there, and they are of no use here. And they were too advanced for our programs anyway. No, their time had come. The empty space can be better filled by other things.

Comments

[iamleaper]

The ones I really feel bad about -- since I work in a University library -- is chucking old doctoral theses. Someone worked so hard on those that... ugh. All those old typeset pages!

[peachespig.livejournal.com]

You mean you don't keep them forever?? How old do they have to be before they go?

[iamleaper]

I destroyed a batch from the early 40s a few weeks ago. They were falling apart and, well, the print had all faded and you couldn't read them. Probably water damaged, too, they were so old and dirty that I couldn't tell. -.-

[peachespig.livejournal.com]

So my PhD thesis from 2000 is safe for the time being??

Actually, my thesis will probably never die since it's recorded electronically as well. But it is sad that old theses that only exist on paper are going. All that work. It's doubly sad that they're probably going at about the same time as most of their authors...

Sorry for the moment of ridiculous sentimentality.

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

Actually, my thesis will probably never die since it's recorded electronically as well.

Don't forget University Microfilms! (Unless you got your PhD from one of the universities that doesn't contract with UMI. I know there are some, I forget which they are offhand though.)

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

Throwing out someone's disseration would probably give me a pang, too. That seems much more personal, somehow, than ditching a mass-market paperback or an outdated monograph on blood bank management. But when they're in that kind of condition, there's not much else you can do with them.

[zhaneel.livejournal.com]

Hello, I hope you don't mind my adding you. This post caught my eye a couple of days ago from StackOfBooks's list and I stopped in to read a little while.

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

Not at all. :) Welcome! I look forward to book chats etc. with you.