We're taking a bit of a breather while the world rearranges its underpants. Meanwhile, the other blog is here.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Get more roomy boots

Every year we have a statutory obligation to add 50,000 new books to our lending library collections. Just like we have had every year for the past decade. We also don't have infinitely elastic walls so common sense dictates that we have to remove a similar amount of tatty old stock and/or get more people to borrow more of the stuff in decent condition. Professional librarians wouldn't need to be told that very often, would they? They'd get on and do something, they wouldn't spend all year bleating that 'all these new books keep coming in and there just isn't the room for any of it in my library' now would they?

Would they?

5 comments:

Lavinia said...

Heavens, don't you have those sad, overburderned "discard" carts standing near the door of every library, with old rejected books selling for 25 cents, just like all the libraries over here?

Kevin Musgrove said...

Oh yes, in all the prime locations in the doorways of our libraries, just to make a good impression.

The problem is that by the time the librarians finally get the stuff off the shelves it's so old and rancid we can't even give them away.

Lavinia said...

Old and rancid.....hmmmm, that sounds like the lunch I had yesterday.

The Topiary Cow said...

Yah...the best idea is to pitch the old, tattered, and uncirculated into a bin...

Tricky though because people catch you at it, they'll want to 'rescue' the books, and next thing you know, there's a newspaper story on it...

Moo!

Kevin Musgrove said...

Lavinia: is just touting for sympathy methinks!

Ms. Cow: you know whereof you write!