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A dumpster arrived behind my university's library

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Re: A dumpster arrived behind my university's library

#151

Post by sapphicsnail »

phil21 wrote: post #73
anigbrowl wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I don't think popularity should be a factor in library decision-making. Extremely popular books driven by massive marketing campaigns predictably translate into the same book being available for only a few dollars months later. This all sounds like it's driven much more by the needs of publishers than library users; consider that the more reduced the selection, the fewer people will come to use the library bec…

This is a great way to lose what's left of public support for libraries. Going (more?) elitist is really not the way to go here. Your average person should be able to find utility in a library. University libraries of course might be a good exception to this rule. But your local public library should be a way to make reading accessible to the average middle to lower class family. And that means providing the material…

> But your local public library should be a way to make reading accessible to the average middle to lower class family. And that means providing the materials they want to read - not what you think they should.

It's pretty classicist to assume that only rich people are reading those kinds of books. I have plenty of friends who struggle to pay rent who read dense stuff like philosophy, lit. theory, etc. This whole David Brooks style paternalism drives me crazy.

Re: A dumpster arrived behind my university's library

#152

Post by anigbrowl »

phil21 wrote: post #73
anigbrowl wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I don't think popularity should be a factor in library decision-making. Extremely popular books driven by massive marketing campaigns predictably translate into the same book being available for only a few dollars months later. This all sounds like it's driven much more by the needs of publishers than library users; consider that the more reduced the selection, the fewer people will come to use the library bec…

This is a great way to lose what's left of public support for libraries. Going (more?) elitist is really not the way to go here. Your average person should be able to find utility in a library. University libraries of course might be a good exception to this rule. But your local public library should be a way to make reading accessible to the average middle to lower class family. And that means providing the material…

Utility is in having a big selection of books. If a large chunk of the library is just multiple copies of previously popular books, then you are cutting people off from discover the range of books that are available. I would never have found authors like Stanislaw Lem or or Robert Heinlein as a teenager if it hadn't been for the library; the science fiction sections in bookstores at the time were clogged with movie adaptation novellas and mostly forgettable trilogies/franchise works.

As a library-funding taxpayer myself, I find it very depressing that the selection in my local libraries is so lacking. Hence my remark about the vast superiority of second-hand bookstores for just about any topic.

Re: A dumpster arrived behind my university's library

#153

Post by anigbrowl »

Amezarak wrote: post #137
phil21 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great way to lose what's left of public support for libraries. Going (more?) elitist is really not the way to go here. Your average person should be able to find utility in a library. University libraries of course might be a good exception to this rule. But your local public library should be a way to make reading accessible to the average middle to lower class family. And that means providing the material…

> This is a great way to lose what's left of public support for libraries. Going (more?) elitist is really not the way to go here. Why should I support a public entertainment center? The original American libraries were created to make valuable and educational works accessible to the public, not pulp. Library systems all over the country have discarded most of this stuff in favor of political, romance, mysteries and…

Speaking of children's books being atrocious, more and more people are turning up examples of AI-generated books in libraries. I know Librarians aim to screen out this sort of stuff but they seem to be missing the mark. Part of the problem is that some publishers appear to mix AI stuff into their catalogs and some libraries are just buying based on the cover and summary text.

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiai/comments/1rnjx1e/i_found_thi...

https://www.governing.com/artificial-intelligence/how-local-...

Re: A dumpster arrived behind my university's library

#154

Post by anigbrowl »

jubilanti wrote: post #100
anigbrowl wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I don't think popularity should be a factor in library decision-making. Extremely popular books driven by massive marketing campaigns predictably translate into the same book being available for only a few dollars months later. This all sounds like it's driven much more by the needs of publishers than library users; consider that the more reduced the selection, the fewer people will come to use the library bec…

> I don't think popularity should be a factor in library decision-making. How dare librarians... give the people the books they want to read???

Well, I should have said the overriding factor, but my reasoning is that a lot of what appears to be 'popularity' is just the result of marketing campaigns by publishers, as opposed to the sort of enduring popularity that comes from being loved by readers (which can't be determined until some time after a book's release).

That said, I would still prioritize variety over pure popularity. For example, I can see a library having 2 or 3 copies of all the Harry Potter books because people keep checking them out, but I don't think they need 10 copies.

Re: A dumpster arrived behind my university's library

#155

Post by anigbrowl »

wat10000 wrote: post #60
anigbrowl wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our basement was stuffed to the gills with romance novels that nobody was reading anymore, mysteries published decades ago, and kids books that probably related to kids from a previous generation more. This is hardly comparable to difficult philosophy books as mentioned in the article, though. To my mind, the poin of libraries is to house and make accessible difficult or challenging books that might not necessarily b…

The point of libraries is to help people access the books they want. If someone wants Oprah's book then why should the library not help them access it? If a lot of people want it, then why should the library not stock many copies so that more those people can access it? They don't exist to gatekeep books and ensure people read whatever you think are the right kind of books.

If a lot of people want it, it will be widely available through other channels. If you buy too many copies, you end up with what we see in many libraries, multiple copies of last/previous years' flavors-of-the-month that nobody cares about any more. Great for publishers who want to maximize library sales at $80/unit, not so great for readers who want a wider selections of books to choose from.

Re: A dumpster arrived behind my university's library

#156

Post by anigbrowl »

gowld wrote: post #75
anigbrowl wrote: post #29

Honestly, I think part of the problem is that around the time librarians rebranded themselves as 'information scientists' they got a bit carried away about how special they were and fell in love with the power of administration - so much more exciting than merely curating books selected by other people.

Why do those "other people" get a free pass to be "in love with the power of administration"?

In academic libraries, because they are experts in their field.

Re: A dumpster arrived behind my university's library

#158

Post by etempleton »

themaninthedark wrote: post #135
kelnos wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this part of the article made me sad: > a state university’s property, even if it’s been deemed trash, cannot be transferred to private individuals. What a waste! Sure, allowing something like this could (and probably would) be abused, but I think the waste is worse. I'm glad your middle school was able to do what they did!

They don't have surplus sales? I know the universe I went to did. Price it all at a penny each.

Even libraries that go to the trouble of doing this throw away probably a thousand books for every one they can sell.

Re: A dumpster arrived behind my university's library

#160

Post by com2kid »

bastawhiz wrote: post #10

My first thought is how accessible these books are. If a book hasn't been checked out in years, and there's another library in the interlibrary loan network that has a copy, there's no practical reason to keep another copy. If you can request a book and have it arrive in a few days, that's not an issue in any real sense, especially for books that nobody is checking out in the first place. I used to work in a library,…

I live in Seattle and we have a fairly large library system.

They have none of the fraggle rock books. A once huge series, now gone.

Same for the Mr Men series. Just may as well not exist.

My son very much enjoys my old fraggle rock books, but my library system apparently threw all of their copies away years ago.

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