Rare Book Monthly

Articles - March - 2023 Issue

The Great Deaccession Has Begun

Discarding books is the last resort.

In an article in the Washington Post last December 19, Karen Heller announced, “the Great Deaccession commenced.” It is a fact that people with shelves full of books they will never read, or never read again, are confronting. No one wants them. Nevertheless, they can't bring themselves to throw them away. It is some sort of a sacrilege. Maybe they can find a friend who wants to read one or two, a few good enough to be sold, maybe a couple that their children will want someday. The rest stay on the shelves because their owners don't know what else to do with them.

 

Some of these books can be pawned off to library book fairs. The recent phenomenon of little free libraries gives people another outlet for a few more. Then there are the large bargain book traders, like Better World Books, that will take them. Any of these can soothe the conscience of those who can't bear to send their books to the dump. The reality is many of these will end up being pulped by the large book traders anyway, but the owners don't like to dwell on those thoughts. The pulping machines are sort of like slaughterhouses – we don't want to think about them.

 

None of this is news to librarians. They have dealt with the issue, and upset patrons, for years. If you think of the reluctance to discard old books by people whose shelves are jammed with them, think of how easy it is to take that stand when it is someone else's shelves that are filled with them. That someone else is the librarian. When they try to remove books for practical reasons, such as no shelf space left while new arrivals arrive, or space is needed for other pressing needs, they become the target of the preservationist's wrath.

 

Stephanie Campbell, MLIS, published an article in 2019 on library supplier Brodart's Librarian to Librarian website with the apt title, How to Get Rid of Unwanted Books (Quietly, So as Not to Incite a Riot). The title says it all. As she points out, “The biggest thing standing in your way of having a great collection is that your shelves are clogged with obsolete items.” She lists the various places mentioned before and then some as to where the books can be sold or donated. Ultimately, some will have to be tossed out. She describes sealing up boxes of books to be picked up as trash so people wouldn't know what was in them, only to find the boxes opened and rummaged. Trying to disguise them in trash bags didn't work either. “But enough is enough! We never agreed to warehouse items that no one wants. And it’s exhausting trying to hide the dirty little secret that libraries regularly deaccession and often throw away books.”

 

A lot of deaccessioning is going on under the radar, but a couple of public cases came up recently in Canada. One was at the University of Windsor's Leddy Library. The library was built fifty years ago when the student body was less than half its current size. It is now filled to capacity, with new books arriving and a need for more study space. The Leddy Library chose to handle the deaccession plans transparently. They initiated what they called the Leddy Collection & Deselection Project. That was two years ago and they have now completed the evaluation part. With over 711,000 monographs (books, not journals of newspapers) in their collection, they set down four criteria from which a list of potential deaccessions could be selected.

 

1. It had been borrowed two or fewer times in the past ten years.

2. It had been published at least 30 years ago.

3. The library acquired it at least 20 years ago.

4. Print copies were available in at least four other Canadian academic libraries.

 

The result was that 152,000 books could be considered for deaccession. That does not mean all will be. Other considerations, including faculty requests, can preserve some of the titles in the collection. As to what happens with the rest of those books, they said the library had partnered with Better World Books for resale to the public or donation to literacy programs around the world. Faculty also would be eligible to select titles for personal collections. This part of the project will take another two years to complete. Finally, for what happens to those that not even Better World Books wants, there was the polite but dreaded answer - “The Library will ensure that books that cannot be donated or used otherwise are responsibly recycled.”

 

Even with the great efforts to handle the deaccession fairly and responsibly, there was not universal acclaim. A humanities professor at the university told the Windsor Star a lot of research is conducted in old books. As for their not being checked out in years, he noted that many of his colleagues do their research at the library without checking out the books. He summed up his comments by saying, “University is a place where knowledge is to be collected and not disposed.”

 

The other case comes from 100 Mile House, British Columbia. According to 100 Mile Free Press, a resident was “shocked and angered” when he found a lot of books in good condition had been left at the landfill. The local librarian explained that weeding is a necessary part of library functions. They also use a two or fewer times taken out in the past ten years standard. They try to find places that want the books, or hold library sales, but what is left ends up at the landfill. On a positive note, in the past year the landfill has been able to grind up old books and use them for fuel at the electric generating plant. The resident who discovered the old books at the landfill said his outrage has faded after understanding the explanation, but he still feels there ought to be a better solution to the problem. There is still a “lot of reading” in these books, he said.

 

As librarian Shelby Byer observed, “Weeding is a part of running a library, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to bring in new materials.” If space were unlimited, as virtual space is almost unlimited on computer chips, this wouldn't be an issue. Unfortunately, physical space in expensive structures is scarce. If new books are to be brought in, something has to give. Sometimes you have to prune the old branches so new ones can grow.


Posted On: 2023-03-01 01:29
User Name: keeline

If libraries can't be bothered to retain books more than 30 years old (or the other criteria indicated), perhaps they should partner with the Internet Archive / OpenLibrary project to provide copies to them so they can be scanned and made available (with appropriate limitations for copyrighted material).

You mention pulp mills but the megasellers like BetterWorld Books are little better since they routinely show a stock image of one copy of a book and send out something entirely different (often only the title is the same) with the worst kind of packing (a thin plastic bag) and stickers on the book that are sometimes hard to remove. This kind of place is really only good for obtaining cheap reading copies. Sometimes people get something good but very often it is not. Sure they will refund the purchase price (most of the time) but how many times does one want to be burned in this kind of treasure hunt?


Posted On: 2023-03-01 14:36
User Name: midsomer

Being in the trade I have attended many hundreds of library sales over the last twenty years. I've seen more than a few recently built/remodeled libraries that are architectural masterpieces. No money has been spared to create soaring ceilings, expensive wood trim, etc. I think that money could have been better spent elsewhere. Books and book storage comes to mind.


Rare Book Monthly

  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions