Awful Library Books

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Welcome to Awful Library Books!

April 23, 2009 · 9 Comments

For all you public library professionals, take a look at the dark underbelly of collection!  These books and other materials represent the worst in public library holdings.  We all know about a quality collection and the necessity of weeding materials, but please!  There really is no excuse for ANY public library to maintain these items.  Hopefully, this will inspire you to be more attentive to collection quality issues.

Categories: weeding

9 responses so far ↓

  • David Wright // May 26, 2009 at 4:50 pm | Reply

    Great idea – I can tell this is going to be a fun ride!!

  • Nuria // May 27, 2009 at 7:30 pm | Reply

    This blog made my day!

  • Bill // June 6, 2009 at 9:39 am | Reply

    Too many people already think technology and science just “happen”. I understand that library space is limited, but it breaks my heart to see some of the books at the library book sales and know that they will no longer be available to people. Considering that the average American attention span seems to be about 2 minutes these days, I think it’s important to retain as much of the history of our culture and technology as possible. What you call “outdated” or just plain “bad” ideas still shaped our culture and our world and need to be remembered. Besides, if you’re so enlightened, why are you still running Windoze? Try Ubuntu Linux if you’re so allergic to cruft.

  • andy // June 30, 2009 at 9:54 pm | Reply

    These books aren’t awful by and large. For the most part they’re merely outdated.

  • tsoukis // July 1, 2009 at 9:25 am | Reply

    Great blog, but the title is unfair. They’re not awful.
    There’s one book missing though: “Posting bigger images in your blog”.

  • Torsten Adair // July 6, 2009 at 1:08 pm | Reply

    I suggest one more criteria for this blog: Avoid any titles from “micro” presses. (Those who buy ISBNs in lots of ten, and rarely publish more than three titles.) With the rise of vanity presses and print-on-demand titles, you could create a parallel blog of these small press books.

  • Katie // July 13, 2009 at 5:10 pm | Reply

    I’m not a librarian but really got a kick out of this site (I also learned a few things too). Keep them coming!

  • kieran // July 21, 2009 at 3:38 pm | Reply

    I found your website after your appearance on the CBC this morning. I love it. I only hope you can find enough time to meet the demand for new content! I am an instant regular.

  • Jeff Singer // July 26, 2009 at 11:54 am | Reply

    I worked at a public library in upstate NY where weeding hadn’t been done in a very, very long time. I can’t remember all of the books we “put in the book sale” (re: threw out), but my favorite was on how to do macrame, a craft that I believe left when Nixon left the White House.

    Great site! Thanks much!

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