Pages

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Our Changing Library Systems in America

Recently a flap erupted over our library system's decision to purge 250,000 paper books from its shelves. A shrinking budget was one of the reasons cited as staffs are reduced and services are cut. The eventual plan is the physical space will be freed up as the library's offerings move into the digital age. Anyway, the idea of just destroying 250,000 books didn't go over very well. The local taxpayers (i.e., voters who put the Board of Supervisors in office) raised a big hullabaloo, so the discarded books process will be reviewed. I have to say I was a bit surprised when the news broke. As an author, I am acquainted with how libraries cull books from their holdings, since some of the books are my own novels. On the other hand, I can see the library system's point that new space has to be made for the new books coming in each year. I'm not sure where the happy medium lies on that point. Stay tuned as our world continues to evolve, I suppose.

This is the link to the Washington Post article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinion...

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for leaving your comment. I will read it and respond soon.