Something creepy is going on in our libraries. Books are disappearing and no one—at least no one who’s allowed to talk about it—can say why.
Often the books are being thrown away. Not sold. Not given away. Not even recycled. Libraries in the state of Maryland are throwing away books in good condition and leaving empty shelves behind.
I noticed the emptier shelves when I was trying to help my daughter find research material for a report last week. A friend who works at the library but must remain anonymous for fear of job retaliation told me that I was not imagining things—there are fewer books in stock.
And the missing books have been dumped in the trash or recycling bins. Employees have been told that they are not allowed to take any of the discarded books.
Does this make any sense? Not to me but then, I don’t work for the government.
In any case, piles of good, nearly new books have been sighted in the trash at library branches throughout Baltimore County. One local TV station even broadcast a story on the subject (WBFF Fox 45), but book and library lovers who have been waiting for a public outcry are waiting in vain. Either no one knows, or no one cares.
There are many organizations that accept donations of books. There are organizations that will help libraries sell their surplus. Our libraries here used to routinely sell their own surplus books. But since the shelves have plenty of space, the books that are being trashed do not even appear to be surplus.
So why are they being thrown out? Are books just too much trouble to deal with? Is it easier to manage a computer database with fewer entries? Does the cleaning contractor charge by the book when it comes to dusting? Is library construction so shoddy that libraries have to discard books to lighten the shelves to keep them from falling through the floors? Is there a vast conspiracy to destroy all print books to force us to buy Kindles? Who knows?
If anyone has a theory about this, I’d love to hear it. If anyone who works for the library would like the opportunity to explain, please do.
In the meantime, I’m certainly not donating any more books to the libraries around here, that’s for sure.
Wow! That’s TERRIBLE! If they aren’t going to sell them they should ABSOLUTELY donate them either to patrons coming to the library or donate to schools and other organizations. This is TERRIBLE!
That is insane! I can’t come up with any reasons that this would be happening. My daughter volunteers at our local library and thank goodness had never mentioned anything like this happening. It’s very strange indeed.
Ask if she’s ever heard about it happening elsewhere. There were stories supposedly shared by librarians the national conference about it–throwing out books, that is. One library admitted to throwing out books because they didn’t have a recycling vendor. And I know the libraries can’t keep everything indefinitely because they don’t have the space. But when they DO have space… that’s when it makes no sense to me to just make the collection smaller and weaker.
Nope, never heard of this. Such a shame, too. In my area (PG County), I’ve noticed a number of book recycling bins appearing in various spots, some recycling bins are in large parking lots like Kmart. As far as I know, my local library takes most donated books and sells them in the bookstore. I’m not sure what happens if they can’t move/sell the books in their used bookstore. Hopefully, they’re not thrown away. I’ve also seen some library books for sale in regular bookstores, like BooksAMillion or Family Christian. Oh, just thought of something, each year my town has a Labor Day Festival and the library has a huge section full of used books. They sell paperbacks for a quarter, hardcovers for a dollar.
Are the book recycling bins collecting books for resale as books or they selling them as scrap paper? I’ve noticed one of these recently – I’m going to go check it out!
Hi, Kate. I have no idea but wondered the same thing myself. I was going to blog about it – take a picture of one with my camera and ask my blog readers if they had any information. My sister is the one who initially told me about these bins. She was telling me since I always had so many books to get rid of, it was an option. I told her that I felt funny recycling books, ya know? I want to pass them on to readers, I don’t want them being turned into paper pulp (no pun intended). But, when you think about it, books would need to be recycled/thrown away eventually when they get old. Especially paperbacks. How many times can you read a paperback book before it starts falling apart and is no longer readable.
But the library you mentioned is throwing away books that are in still good condition, which saddens me! 🙁
I did actually “recycle” one book that was literally falling apart by putting it on my rabbit’s shelf where she will eventually eat it. The pages felt brittle and antique but the book was actually one I bought in the 1980s–not antique by my standards. Some books definitely don’t last. But the ones in good condition should be donated somewhere.
I really love the ladies at our local library, but I can’t say I donate my books to them. I usually donate them to the school or a children’s hospital. One time, when I made a large donation, the director acted as if I was bringing her boxes full of toxic waste. I don’t know why. One would think they would like to have books for the two sales they run each year, but since that didn’t seem to be the case, I won’t spend my time and energy hauling them there.
This is something that needs to be addressed. Someone needs to send these to Africa where children are starved for education and books to read. A crime.
It would be nice to figure out a way to do that — shipping costs are so expensive but it seems like there should be some way to manage it.
I have been an avid reader all my life and can not imagine throwing out a book at all. I have accumulated a lot of books over the last few years as a reviewer. When it is time to thin out the bookshelves I generally give to my local library. These are always hard cover books in excellent shape. Others I have donated to Goodwill and the homeless shelter. ARC’s I receive I generally keep or share with friends or family. Reading is so important that just the idea of any library throwing out books to make room for me is just repulsive. Thanks for sharing this.
This is a horrible waste. In Reston, VA, the homeless shelter is right next to the library and the cut in hours has effected the people who need the free resources. Now to suspect that the books are also being tossed is making me shake my head. Our church ran a drive to get books for a shelter in Philly that we assist with a youth mission trip. A drive was run for ‘boy books’ for a prison. People want books.
Kate, I agree. My books will go to a requesting group or free cycle.
I haven’t heard this before, but if it’s true that they’re just throwing these books–when so many unfortunate children/people in the world need them–I think it’s disgusting.
They are erasing history, they will rewrite it.
they don’t want to be seen burning books, makes people feel uneasy.