Weeding the Classics

Stephen Denney notes that the public library system in Fairfax County, VA is weeding unread classics in favor of popular literature. A Washington Post article quoted by Stephen explains the library's decision as follows:

"Public libraries have always weeded out old or unpopular books to make way for newer titles. But the region's largest library system is taking turnover to a new level.

"Like Borders and Barnes & Noble, Fairfax is responding aggressively to market preferences, calculating the system's return on its investment by each foot of space on the library bookshelves -- and figuring out which products will generate the biggest buzz. So books that people actually want are easy to find, but many books that no one is reading are gone -- even if they are classics..."


On the one hand, I understand why Fairfax County is following this path. Space is a major concern for most libraries. Plus, in the online age, when all too many think that everything is available on Google and libraries are no longer needed, public libraries in particular are under tremendous pressure to show their continued relevance. Hence the desire to keep only the most heavily used items in their collections and try to bring in as many patrons as possible. Finally, Fairfax patrons can still obtain almost any book using Interlibrary Loan. As print on demand technology becomes available, this will become even less of an issue.

Still, I think John J. Miller has a point in his essay from Wednesday's Wall Street Journal when he decries the tendency for libraries to adopt the Barnes & Noble model:

Instead of embracing this doomed model, libraries might seek to differentiate themselves among the many options readers now have, using a good dictionary as the model. Such a dictionary doesn't merely describe the words of a language--it provides proper spelling, pronunciation and usage. New words come in and old ones go out, but a reliable lexicon becomes a foundation of linguistic stability and coherence. Likewise, libraries should seek to shore up the culture against the eroding force of trends.

The particulars of this task will fall upon the shoulders of individual librarians, who should welcome the opportunity to discriminate between the good and the bad, the timeless and the ephemeral, as librarians traditionally have done. They ought to regard themselves as not just experts in the arcane ways of the Dewey Decimal System, but as teachers, advisers and guardians of an intellectual inheritance.


For better or worse, the move from "just in case" to "just in time" library collections is well underway. While libraries have successfully adopted elements of the bookstore model, it is important that we not lose sight of what makes libraries unique. We need to maintain our ability to educate and empower as well as entertain.