Libraries get no funding and have no space. Books must be purged. So they'll do things like "get rid of all science reference books without color photos that haven't been checked out in 15 years."
But... that's what the "reference" thing is all about...
anyway... at least I get to read it now.
@futurebird @melanie someone really should found a cold store for books. If we can fill caves with cheese, why not books?
It's kinda morbid but I ought to think about what should happen to the little "ants and math" library I have some day.
I know some older people who have had a very hard time finding a home for such books. In fact we have HALF of what once was the "NYC Urban Planning Association's" library since they were going to throw it out and my husband couldn't stand it.
The upside is I've learned a lot about urban planning.
It seems obvious to me that a library always needs an ongoing capital budget for expansion. They can sell off multiple copies of no-longer popular mass paperbacks, and books that really are outdated and very common. But, the older a library is the more old books it should have and the bigger it should be.
Is this unreasonable?
@futurebird
Yes, this is how I would like it to be, too.
@melanie @futurebird the problem I see is that libraries should be accessible to the public. Things like the Library of Congress is obviously different. But we can't expend local libraries forever, that would risk them spending more time on archiving rather a public service.
@ekg @melanie
Call it logarithmic growth. By a smaller percent each year.