We return from our holiday hiatus to see this disturbing article in today's Washington Post. We would write more about it here but we're off to our local library to check out To Kill A Mockingbird and Babylon Revisited. This is not going to happen on our watch, folks. Sic Semper Tyrannis, as they say in Virginia. (Note to library card carrying members of George Mason Regional: Get Busy!)
From the Washington Post:
Books on the Chopping Block in Fairfax
The following books have been weeded from the shelves of various branches of the Fairfax County Public Library system or haven't been checked out in 24 months and could be discarded. In parentheses are the branches where the books are endangered. The same title might be available at another branch.
The Works of Aristotle Aristotle (Centreville)
Sexual Politics, Kate Millett (Centreville)
The Great Philosophers Karl Jaspers (Centreville)
Carry Me Home Diane McWhorter (Centreville)
The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner (George Mason Regional)
The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy (George Mason Regional)
For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway (George Mason Regional)
Desolation Angels Jack Kerouac (George Mason Regional)
Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak (George Mason Regional)
Remembrance of Things Past Marcel Proust (George Mason Regional)
Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well Maya Angelou (Chantilly Regional)
The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams (Chantilly Regional)
Writings Gertrude Stein (Chantilly Regional)
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte (Chantilly Regional)
Doctor Faustus Christopher Marlowe (Chantilly Regional)
Great Issues in American History Richard Hofstadter (Chantilly Regional)
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Gertrude Stein (Chantilly Regional)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Pohick Regional)
Babylon Revisited: And other stories F. Scott Fitzgerald (Reston Regional)
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee (Reston Regional)
The Aeneid Virgil (Sherwood Regional)
The Mill on the Floss George Eliot (Fairfax City Regional)
gasp!
Posted by: C.M. Mayo | January 02, 2007 at 04:02 PM
This is horrifying.
Posted by: Leora Skolkin-Smith | January 02, 2007 at 09:12 PM
Yeah, if this is happening here, in one of the most educated and wealthiest counties in the country (thanks, Wikipedia!), then what is happening at other libraries across the country. Anyone care to venture a guess? tHB
Posted by: thb | January 02, 2007 at 09:54 PM
"Clay bought state-of-the art software that spits out data on each of the 3.1 million books in the county system -- including age, number of times checked out and when."
I wonder if they really bought special software for that...most library circulation systems have the ability to generate those types of reports.
Posted by: HoosierLibrarian | January 03, 2007 at 01:41 AM
Are you really that outraged over having to wait a week? It's only usually a couple days, or you can make the drive yourself...
"Library officials say they will always stock Shakespeare's plays, "The Great Gatsby" and other venerable titles. And many of the books pulled from one Fairfax library can be found at another branch and delivered to a patron within a week."
Posted by: Matt | January 03, 2007 at 02:16 AM
We don't needs no librarys nohow.
Posted by: Tony | January 03, 2007 at 08:01 AM
Weeding and discarding materials happens in libraries all the time. Branch libraries, depending on their size, often do not keep "classics" in their collection and only collect popular fiction and current titles. The books could also be in really bad condition. There are a lot of factors to consider here, which may or may not have been covered by the Washington Post.
Posted by: Megan | January 03, 2007 at 10:23 AM
I think that something may be afoot here. How do we know that patrons aren't reading these books? I realize that space in branch libraries may be at a premium so at least have "classics" available somewhere in the system!
Posted by: Paul | January 03, 2007 at 12:02 PM
Gasp!
Sigh.
Posted by: Anne | January 05, 2007 at 02:54 PM