tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9134264.post8441532229544863774..comments2024-02-27T20:40:32.034+00:00Comments on Electronic Music Stuff with Fat Roland: I too am a book killer: the Manchester Central Library book disposalFat Rolandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11374906684948810408noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9134264.post-47383135744471145672015-02-15T09:33:46.117+00:002015-02-15T09:33:46.117+00:00I totally agree with this Fats. A walk through the...I totally agree with this Fats. A walk through the main campus uni library shows how many copies of old editions of text books get unused, unread or damaged beyond repair, and how much room a fuckton of books takes up. The Central Library have rather ballsed up in a PR sense (although they might have had other things on their minds at the time), but they should produce a list of the books pulped alongside a list of the newest editions kept or pulped books that have been digitised. <br /><br />But then again, I think we need to have a little more faith in the expertise of our librarians, whose job it is to manage space and to manage changes to the processes of book storage. I feel sorry for them suffering under the wrath of Winterson et al who are using this as publicity, to keep their names floating around as 'protesting' writers. Feels rather pathetic. Our libraries should be celebrated and trusted, not demonised.<br />David Hartleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12379941830996589111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9134264.post-3983516365658002952015-02-15T09:05:10.243+00:002015-02-15T09:05:10.243+00:00Cheers, Jim. Good points well made. It might be, o...Cheers, Jim. Good points well made. It might be, of course, many of the books *have* been sold to a third party whose job it is to sell on remaindered stock. Perhaps there are enough books in there to keep The Works going for a long time to come. Or maybe not. Also, if the next Manchester Independent Book Fair doesn't have at least a thousand trestle tables, I'll be sorely disappointed...Fat Rolandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11374906684948810408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9134264.post-62149581235786977842015-02-14T22:05:13.227+00:002015-02-14T22:05:13.227+00:00I agree with most of this. I don't think books...I agree with most of this. I don't think books are intrinsically sacred, or that pulping them should be considered intellectual heresy, per se. <br /><br />On the other hand, I suppose the value of books (in terms of the knowledge they impart) can change over time in ways we can't anticipate. A lot of the John Rylands' and Portico's stock is the equivalent of the 3rd edition Understanding Glass Making. They tell us lots of subtle things about the time in which they were written - more than how people made glass - and these books get to be 300 years old by not being pulped, even by people who (300 years ago) might have considered them valueless. <br /><br />I kind of wish the Library had rented a thousand trestle tables and lined them up in the square outside the library on a sunny day, and put all the books on them before they were pulped (if indeed they were), so people could come along and pick through them, and save them if they really wanted to. Then at least when people griped about pulping, they could say 'you had your chance'. <br /><br />Jim HinksAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com