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by fhdkweig3 hours ago |
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upvoteby kzrdude2 hours ago|
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I picked up a fun university library discard the other day (month). This one is about Lunar geology. The concept of the book is so inspiring to me: "it's 1975, we brought home a lot of samples from the moon now; so what did we learn". It was fun to look through that one - a snapshot of a very exciting time.

(Taylor, Lunar Science: A post-Apollo view)

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upvoteby kelnos38 minutes ago|
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Yeah, this part of the article made me sad:

> a state university’s property, even if it’s been deemed trash, cannot be transferred to private individuals.

What a waste! Sure, allowing something like this could (and probably would) be abused, but I think the waste is worse.

I'm glad your middle school was able to do what they did!

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upvoteby eutropia12 minutes ago|
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I wonder if they could have transferred it to a separate nonprofit, and then that nonprofit has no restrictions on whom it is transferred or sold to?
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upvoteby ghaff19 minutes ago|
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My local town library has a book sale every fall and you can take away a paper bag of books for $10. It's not practical for every small library, in particular, to hold onto every book forever.
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upvoteby WillAdams2 hours ago|
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That is what deep basement storage is for.

A last copy policy will ensure that when one wants to compare a first edition of _The Fellowship of the Ring_ against a second, one can get the full weight of Aragorn's snark:

>What did you fear that I should say? That I have here a rascal of a rebel dwarf that I would gladly exchange for a serviceable orc?'

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upvoteby fhdkweig2 hours ago|
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Schools in poor towns don't have multiple levels or basements or even extra storage rooms. What you see is all you get.

If there is enough space to have a room full of books, it would be better used as a publicly accessible set of stacks. The only real reason to have a librarian-only room is for books that are rare and valuable.

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upvoteby WillAdams2 hours ago|
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As I implied elsethread, the solution for that is better funding.

Someone needs to take up Carnegie's mantle and finish the job which he began.

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upvoteby webnrrd2k54 seconds ago|
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What's stopping you?
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upvoteby jerf2 hours ago|
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You need a limiting principle or there is no limit to the "better funding" you're asking for until you have a Library of Congress in every small town in America, to no positive effect.

What's the limiting principle you propose? It has to be something real libraries and library funding sources can take action on, because they have to take real-world actions on them. So this is not a time for aspirational speeches or vague exhortations to "do more", which is the exact opposite of a limiting principle anyhow. What is "enough"?

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upvoteby WillAdams1 hours ago|
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The limiting principle should be that for a given ILL region/system, there is at least one copy of each book/edition which entered that system which can be loaned out.

As I noted, it's a pain for me to have to drive down to DC to get access to a book which _used_ to be in the local library system, but isn't anymore, or to purchase my own copy (which wasn't previously necessary).

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upvoteby kelnos36 minutes ago|
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Sure, there are always solutions, and many of them usually involve more money. But that money usually doesn't just magically appear, even with plenty of Carnegie-types these days looking to whitewash their reputations through philanthropy. The money often is the problem that needs to be solved, and there's just no source for those funds.
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upvoteby bluGill2 hours ago|
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Most books are not worth saving.
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upvoteby S_Bear45 minutes ago|
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I used to work in a bookstore, and I've been working in libraries almost my entire career. Most books have no value. I've probably thrown out a million books in my life; most of them have been diet books, cook books, and political biographies.

My current library is around 2000 square feet and I acquire around 1000 books a year, so I have to toss around 1000 books a year, because they're made of matter and take up space.

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upvoteby gowld1 hours ago|
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Someone can ask for a copy in the mail, cheaper than pre-emptively printing and storing thousands of copies of every version of every book.

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?ref_=search_f...

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upvoteby Ekaros2 hours ago|
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That is what big national central libraries are for. Hopefully government funded libraries actually properly archiving everything printed in the country.
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upvoteby ForOldHack2 hours ago|
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This is a brilliant observation, in regards to the first edition's depiction of Gollum.

In the first edition, he was depicted as a large creature, and Tolkien was upset about it, and in the second edition, changed the description to small.

This information was gathered by a rare book seller who's videos I find immensely interesting.

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