I can see the necessity of the whole operation but I can't get over the Orwellian overtones of the process. I'm talking about the "weeding" operation that is taking place at libraries all over the country and will soon be taking place at the Sacramento Public Library with which I have a strong connection.
"Weeding" will result in the removal from the shelves and the catalog database of all books that have not been checked out within the recent past. Some libraries have set that cut-off as short as two years. Sacramento has chosen three years. No big announcement is being made, partially because such announcements in other parts of the country have resulted in firestorms of outrage and charges of censorship. The Washington Post published an article about this process at the Fairfax, Virginia library which generated scores of outraged responses as well as some bravos. The Fairfax Library response was gentle and reasonable.
I would be the last person to accuse our librarians of censorship, what with their strong freedom of access bias. And, as has been patiently explained to me, many of the books to be removed from the database haven't been checked out because they are no longer on the shelf. They have been "checked out" sort of permanently by someone who evaded the library security and accountability system. Such phantom books need to be removed from the database.
But what about the old classics? What about the useful but not very popular non-fiction tomes? Who will speak for the less popular books? I am assured that this "weeding" will not be a mindless, automatic process and that trained, sensitive librarians will check the lists of "weeds" before they're forever gone. So visit the library soon and check out all the books you don't want to see disappear. Better yet, read some of the old classics and let your librarian know you care.
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