I know a guy who frequently stole books from the Harvard Coop. This was the '80’s, when Harvard Square was alive with the shouts of “free the people.” This guy saw himself as a robber intellectual, and the five-finger discount as an honorable way to stick it to the man.
He roamed the book aisles less traveled by-- stuffing his bags with stolen volumes of ancient philosophy, multi-part tomes exploring world histories, and dusty textbooks laying out obscure political theories. When he finally got caught, he offered an inventive plea, hoping to evoke sympathy and avoid arrest. “Sir,” he told a Coop security guard, “I’m only stealing books nobody else wants to read.”
I heard an echo of his reasoning recently when I learned about the Boston Public Library’s mission to purge 180,000 books by year’s end. To be purged--books from the library’s citywide collection, which it labels as little used, defined as books that haven’t been checked out a lot. As the Boston Globe reported, it means that most of the 12 branch libraries will lose books. Up to 28 percent for the Uphams Corner branch and 40 percent for the Dudley branch.
I’m unreservedly emotional about this. During my formative years, there was one small library branch in Memphis serving the black community; the main library was off limits to black Memphians. Those branch librarians made do with meager resources allocated for segregated facilities, and carefully curated the limited collection for young people and adults. I’m certain that much of what was on the shelves did not circulate.
How is “little use” determined if what may be an overlooked volume in one community, is a dog-eared manual in another? Dudley Branch librarians report that patrons frequently flip through or read certain books in the library, even if they don’t check them out. At Dudley those include books on the Civil Rights Movement, and the Underground Railroad. This is why individual branches should have a lot to say about what constitutes a so-called unpopular book.
The author of the blog Annoyed Librarian insists the Boston Public Library purge is the customary weeding process that every library periodically undertakes. And BPL officials say little used or unpopular books are the not the first priority; they say the main focus is ridding the stacks of outdated and damaged books, and duplicates.
Twenty-first century libraries are community gathering spaces with fewer printed volumes, and more computer terminals. So, I understand that shrinking shelf space necessitates purging to make room for books that meet current needs and interests. I just can’t help feeling that libraries should always be the one place where a book’s popularity is not a key measurement of its ongoing usefulness.
By the last day of the year, the massive library book purge will be over. The books cleared from the branches sold, archived or recycled. Somewhere, that book thief I used to know is confused.
Callie Crossley is the host of Under the Radar with Callie Crossley.
