Bryan A. Garner, ABA Journal; The tragedy of ‘deaccessioning’ books from university libraries
"Book research is well-nigh irreplaceable to the skillful researcher.
It can’t, and shouldn’t, be fully superseded by online research, which
of course has its own splendors but also its own limitations.
So it’s disheartening to hear what’s happening to our libraries. A lead Associated Press
article on Feb. 7 reports that “as students abandon the stacks in favor
of online reference material, university libraries are unloading
millions of unread volumes in a nationwide purge.” Some books are being
hauled off to permanent storage sites; others are being sold en bloc to
used-book dealers; and still others are being thrown into dumpsters.
Given that half the library collection at the Indiana University of
Pennsylvania has been “uncirculated for 20 years or more,” university
administrators decided to purge 170,000 volumes. “Bookshelves are making
way for group-study rooms and tutoring centers, ‘makerspaces’ and
coffee shops,” the article reports. Oregon State University librarian
Cheryl Middleton, president of the Association of College and Research
Libraries, is quoted as saying, “We’re kind of like the living room of
the campus. We’re not just a warehouse.”
Traditional scholars are outraged. One calls this jettisoning of books “a knife through the heart.” He’s right, of course."
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