Librarians tired of being accused of hiding secret books that were made up by AI
1–10 of 84 posts
Re: Librarians tired of being accused of hiding secret books that were made up by AI
#2Who knew Borges library of babel is just yield()
Re: Librarians tired of being accused of hiding secret books that were made up by AI
#3Librarians do hide books. But not as a way of hiding from public but as a way of not throwing them away. Let me explain. Even though libraries are very big still they run out of space and regularly throw out (in India because most don't care) / ( or in Texas sell out books cheaply) and it pains the librarians deeply so they kind of stash books secretly from being thrown away. And if you really show interest in a particular book and request it nicely then the librarian will give it to you and tell you not to tell anyone. Why I know this because it happened to me in my college library in India. I can still after decades remember the love of books on that librarian's face
Re: Librarians tired of being accused of hiding secret books that were made up by AI
#4Librarians do hide books. But not as a way of hiding from public but as a way of not throwing them away. Let me explain. Even though libraries are very big still they run out of space and regularly throw out (in India because most don't care) / ( or in Texas sell out books cheaply) and it pains the librarians deeply so they kind of stash books secretly from being thrown away. And if you really show interest in a part…
Libraries remove unborrowed books and sell them. Borrowed books stay on the shelf. That's what they do with books.
Re: Librarians tired of being accused of hiding secret books that were made up by AI
#5Librarians do hide books. But not as a way of hiding from public but as a way of not throwing them away. Let me explain. Even though libraries are very big still they run out of space and regularly throw out (in India because most don't care) / ( or in Texas sell out books cheaply) and it pains the librarians deeply so they kind of stash books secretly from being thrown away. And if you really show interest in a part…
Libraries remove unborrowed books and sell them. Borrowed books stay on the shelf. That's what they do with books.
Judging books by their unborrowedness is like judging a youtube video's educational content by its view count.
It's a bad reality created by the powers that be
Re: Librarians tired of being accused of hiding secret books that were made up by AI
#6I visited the local library (California foothills) during a “book sale”, and what didn’t sell was left out in boxes, either for cheap or free. What didn’t move was destined for the landfill. I was aghast, but without enough room to take in the strays. Real estate is unforgiving.
I am in favor of “little free libraries” [0] where books circulate freely, and if they aren’t returned, hopefully are read and not destroyed. They offer plans to build little libraries, and I hope to build some. “Owner” will have to build the supports, though.
Re: Librarians tired of being accused of hiding secret books that were made up by AI
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
Libraries remove unborrowed books and sell them. Borrowed books stay on the shelf. That's what they do with books.
Judging books by their unborrowedness is like judging a youtube video's educational content by its view count. It's a bad reality created by the powers that be
> Judging books by their unborrowedness is like judging a youtube video's educational content by its view count.
I disagree with this. Libraries are notorious for being open about their processes; they will happily reveal flows of materials, down to the item.
Re: Librarians tired of being accused of hiding secret books that were made up by AI
#8Libraries are overwhelmed in their inability to store all the "good" books. I was cleaning out my book collection of, what I thought are really good books, but I came to the realization there is no space for them. So, they get sold or pulped.
Re: Librarians tired of being accused of hiding secret books that were made up by AI
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Judging books by their unborrowedness is like judging a youtube video's educational content by its view count. It's a bad reality created by the powers that be
> Judging books by their unborrowedness is like judging a youtube video's educational content by its view count. I disagree with this. Libraries are notorious for being open about their processes; they will happily reveal flows of materials, down to the item.
Perhaps both things are true depending on circumstances.
Re: Librarians tired of being accused of hiding secret books that were made up by AI
#10Librarians do hide books. But not as a way of hiding from public but as a way of not throwing them away. Let me explain. Even though libraries are very big still they run out of space and regularly throw out (in India because most don't care) / ( or in Texas sell out books cheaply) and it pains the librarians deeply so they kind of stash books secretly from being thrown away. And if you really show interest in a part…
Libraries remove unborrowed books and sell them. Borrowed books stay on the shelf. That's what they do with books.
No it’s a lot more complicated than that …
Librarians try to “market” books based on what they think the public wants or needs.
They try to assure a variety of books put forward, with a special emphasis on “good for you” books.
Books deed as “not good for you” are likely to be shelved in the back.
in practice, libraries use the Dewey decimal system, but that excluded the many “exhibits” of “good for you” material.
I don’t mean “good for you” in a good or bad way. It’s simply what the librarian believes will be most helpful to the readers.
There are currently some very real and important controversies in public libraries that have no clear solution.