RSS 2.0 FeedWhy Do We Need Public Libraries ?
by Doug MataconisThe Washington Post is reporting that the Fairfax County, Virginia Public Library System is purging books that nobody reads from its shelves:
You can’t find “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” at the Fairfax City Regional Library anymore. Or “The Education of Henry Adams” at Sherwood Regional. Want Emily Dickinson’s “Final Harvest”? Don’t look to the Kingstowne branch.
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.
Like Borders and Barnes & Noble, Fairfax is responding aggressively to market preferences, calculating the system’s return on its investment by each foot of space on the library bookshelves — and figuring out which products will generate the biggest buzz. So books that people actually want are easy to find, but many books that no one is reading are gone — even if they are classics.
Instead, the local library is starting to resemble the local bookstore:
As libraries clear out titles, they sweep in new ones as fast as they can. A two-month-old program called “Hot Picks” is boosting copies of bestsellers by tracking the number of holds requested by patrons. This month, every Fairfax branch will display new books more prominently, leaving even less space for older ones.
Based on this, and if libraries really do become nothing more than government-run copies of Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon, then one has to wonder why we need to be spending tax dollars on them anymore.
It certainly makes sense that the public libraries take out books, especially the classics. Hell, the government schools don’t even teach the classics anymore.
Unfortunately, this is part of the dumbing down of America. The sad fact that people don’t even check out these important books is testament to how well it is working.
Comment by Kevin — January 1, 2007 @ 9:39 pmI am an assistant store manager at a Barnes & Noble, and I am horrified. The local bookstore, no matter how large, was never intended to serve the same purpose as a library. In fact, I often find myself educating customers on the difference between the two - customers who come to the bookstore trying to do research for school projects and papers and don’t understand why we don’t have the reference materials they need. If libraries aren’t going to carry them either, who will? The burden may well fall on academic libraries. I recall asking my high school librarian for a note giving me permission to use materials at the local community college library for an honors project. Perhaps this situation won’t be limited to the honors students anymore, if the public branch libraries are moving toward a bookstore model.
Incidentally, my Barnes & Noble does carry The Declline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Comment by feminist mom — January 2, 2007 @ 11:30 am>>Incidentally, my Barnes & Noble does carry The >>Declline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
But Amazon.com does.
Comment by Doug Mataconis — January 2, 2007 @ 12:00 pmAs cities cut budgets and put more money into security, many libraries are being forced to justify their expenditures and shelf space based on circulation statistics, traffic, etc. It’s not that libraries *want* to follow the bookstore model, it’s that their being told by funders that unless they can keep up with bookstores their existence isn’t justified and their funding will be cut.
As a society, I feel we have to figure out what we want our priorities to be and spend in those directions. But I would scared and saddened by a world that had no public libraries– even if they have the same books as the mega stores, they are still free and accessible to all –not just to people with money. In addition, they provide many services such as free Internet access, classes and programs for senior citizens, a wealth of educational and children’s programming, and a public space where anyone can educate themselves.
Comment by Public Librarian — January 2, 2007 @ 2:54 pmDoug, you may have misread feminist mom. She says her B&N does carry it.
The heart of this question seems to be, is the purpose of public libraries to carry the books people want to read, or to carry the books people should be reading? The former is a government spending my money on your entertainment. The latter is obstensibly education, though placing the power to answer that question in the hands of government employees is inherently dangerous.
Isn’t the solution obvious?
Comment by Wulf — January 2, 2007 @ 4:00 pmPublic Librarian, you are just plain wrong. Here in Gwinnett County, GA, it was the Library Director who wanted to provide the taxpayers with a “popular lending library” we never wanted. It was the “funders” screaming bloody murder while the classics went in the trash and the shelves were filled with romance novels. Not only did the taxpayers hate it, but the politicians who held the purse strings hated it even more. You can read all about it on http://www.gcplwatch.org, the website formed but the irate “funders.” By the way, this story has a happy ending- the director got fired.
Comment by Denise V. — January 4, 2007 @ 6:53 pm