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Location: Madison, Wisconsin, United States

A library science student with a bit too much time on her hands.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Chapter Thirty-Two -- A Figure We Did Not Collect

Apparently we are not all that honest, as a profession, when it comes to discarding objects. I know that the libraries I've worked in don't go around advertising when they are dumping materials. But I would think that they at least kept statistics! I guess not. I also think it appauling that a librarian would stand in front of people and crumble a page of a book; it's even worse that he thinks it's appropriate to allow other people to do the same thing. I value the object; someone might have wanted to read that! Also, I think he was possibly lying when he said he picked it up from a yard sale, which means it was likely in a collection before it was selected for such cruel treatment. Baker's turning me into a softie, yes, but I think it's highly unprofessional to be taking items we are entrusted with and treating them so shabbily.

Overall:

I think Baker makes some interesting points about librarians and their truthfulness. I think he also makes some sharp observations about our lack of critical thinking on some topics. I do not, however, share his zeal for this topic. Items can be, and are, destroyed by everyday use. I have seen it in my own library experience, and I can appreciate that making some form of backup copy is a good thing -- even if it means destroying one original copy. I don't think that libraries should be dumping stuff willy-nilly because someone else has a digital copy, but I don't think that they should have to maintain a paper copy if it is too difficult for them to justify doing so.

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