A World War II Poster Which I liked produced by the government.
Morning Thoughts (Rummaging Through Donations.)
This morning, I spent some time going through the piles of donated books in our basement. Many of them are old and musty. Some can never be added because of water damage, age, or poor condition. Many of them will be sent to the booksale so we can sell them to buy new books. A considerable amount of the paperbacks which we cannot use get sent to the prison libraries. This is where the Friends of the Library sends a lot of the material they cannot sell in the booksale. Hardcover books are a problem for prison libraries. A lot of it simply gets recycled.
As usual, there were piles and piles of old romance paperbacks. Lots of Harlequin and BET black romance paperbacks. Mixed in these were various nonfiction titles from the 1980s and 1990s which had long since gone by the wayside. Most people were shortly interested in them, then they faded into someones attic. Sometimes, if you look closely, you can see garage sale stickers. These are the books that didn't get sold at the garage sale.
Many of the books are still in cardboard boxes. I sometimes wonder how old the cardboard is since it costs money to buy cardboard boxes these days and the supermarkets are not as willing to give them away.
You have to be careful because if you move too quickly, one of the stacks of books will fall over. They are piled very high. They are either on tables or in deep shelves where they are stacked willy nilly. One of our retired librarians comes in to select which books will get picked out for the booksale. She usually has a couple of retired people with her who are sorting through the books. They are in old clothes so they do not get too dirty.
The first thing which I look for are the classics, these never go out of style. We will always get asked for Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 51, Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth, and any good old classic books. I find a copy of Voltaire Candide which was recently assigned to the local high school students.
Among the romance books, I find a few urban fiction books. These are very hot titles. There are two copies of Zane Books, a Wendy Williams books, and a copy of the author Noire's book. We have trouble keeping urban fiction in our library because it is so popular.
There are a few very new books which I like, a brand new Elizabeth Lowell Bestseller, and several new books on business innovation. After digging a bit more, I find some new mystery paperbacks as well, a 2007 copy of a book by Faye Kellerman.
Also, among the stacks, there a few books on subjects that really never go out of style. A fairly new book on sailing and a book on pet hermit crabs.
I've managed to pull about 30 books from the piles. Now, I go to the computers and check them on the computer to see if we have them. 15 of them are good enough to be added to the collection.
Later in the morning, I did some more weeding. It is more tedium that needs to get done. I will be doing it every single day until I am done with the 300s which is basically all of social science. It is slow methodical work.
This morning, I spent some time going through the piles of donated books in our basement. Many of them are old and musty. Some can never be added because of water damage, age, or poor condition. Many of them will be sent to the booksale so we can sell them to buy new books. A considerable amount of the paperbacks which we cannot use get sent to the prison libraries. This is where the Friends of the Library sends a lot of the material they cannot sell in the booksale. Hardcover books are a problem for prison libraries. A lot of it simply gets recycled.
As usual, there were piles and piles of old romance paperbacks. Lots of Harlequin and BET black romance paperbacks. Mixed in these were various nonfiction titles from the 1980s and 1990s which had long since gone by the wayside. Most people were shortly interested in them, then they faded into someones attic. Sometimes, if you look closely, you can see garage sale stickers. These are the books that didn't get sold at the garage sale.
Many of the books are still in cardboard boxes. I sometimes wonder how old the cardboard is since it costs money to buy cardboard boxes these days and the supermarkets are not as willing to give them away.
You have to be careful because if you move too quickly, one of the stacks of books will fall over. They are piled very high. They are either on tables or in deep shelves where they are stacked willy nilly. One of our retired librarians comes in to select which books will get picked out for the booksale. She usually has a couple of retired people with her who are sorting through the books. They are in old clothes so they do not get too dirty.
The first thing which I look for are the classics, these never go out of style. We will always get asked for Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 51, Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth, and any good old classic books. I find a copy of Voltaire Candide which was recently assigned to the local high school students.
Among the romance books, I find a few urban fiction books. These are very hot titles. There are two copies of Zane Books, a Wendy Williams books, and a copy of the author Noire's book. We have trouble keeping urban fiction in our library because it is so popular.
There are a few very new books which I like, a brand new Elizabeth Lowell Bestseller, and several new books on business innovation. After digging a bit more, I find some new mystery paperbacks as well, a 2007 copy of a book by Faye Kellerman.
Also, among the stacks, there a few books on subjects that really never go out of style. A fairly new book on sailing and a book on pet hermit crabs.
I've managed to pull about 30 books from the piles. Now, I go to the computers and check them on the computer to see if we have them. 15 of them are good enough to be added to the collection.
Later in the morning, I did some more weeding. It is more tedium that needs to get done. I will be doing it every single day until I am done with the 300s which is basically all of social science. It is slow methodical work.
Afternoon Thoughts
The T. Boone Pickens book, The First Billion Is The Hardest Reflections On A Life of Comebacks And America's Energy Future (With a Plan for Reducing U.S. Oil Dependency) came in for me today through interlibrary loan. It is one of the books which I am hoping to read.
It has been a long week and I am very tired. Things are piling on very fast. I have to work this Saturday. I don't particularly like working on Saturdays. In winter time, I work every other Saturday. During the summer, I manage to have no Saturdays. Things don't always make sense.
I like to think that libraries operate in another zone of time where the clocks are set slightly off cue. Libraries and bookstores seem to somehow be a space where you can step into which isn't quite the same as the rest of the world.
3 comments:
I have noticed that have been stopping by my site quite a bit. I just wanted you to know that I really appreciate that. I have a new project that is still in the construction stages. I am trying to get as many opinions as possible on the overall concept and look.
I was wondering if you could come by and let me know what you thing. Remember it is still under construction. http://www.slogbite.com
Thanks,
Mel
Hmm, let me see, it is black, orange, and white. I might want to add some other colors like green, blue, or red-- primary colors. There are a lot of words. It might need to be simplified a little bit so it can be navigated more easily. I put my blog in your categories list under books/literature
I took a look at your entry. What I need is the name of your best post and its url. I can make the changes before I approve it for display. Go ahead and leave it here, I will pick it up.
Also, I do need you to fly one of my badges in order to be listed.
As far as your comments are concerned. If I could reduce the words and still get the message across, I would. If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them. As far as colors go, I am pretty well set on Orange, Black, Yellow & Gray.
Thanks for the input!!!
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