Discarded Library Books Find it Hard to Adjust to Life on the Outside
Weeded, Withdrawn, and Discarded... No Wonder
When library books are discarded from the library, they find an environment that is difficult, challenging, and sometimes hostile.
Especially if they have been branded with those scarlet letters: DISCARDED.
What at one time could have been a good book is now often viewed as a leprosy, a reject, an outcast perpetually punished for their past. Former library books face challenges at every level.
Because of systemic legal and societal barriers, once library books are discarded, it is more difficult for them compared to books purchased at bookstores to find gainful employment (the nursing home day room is the dream), secure a consistent source of housing, and generally function in society.
Every week, libraries get rid of 100s of books from circulation and release them into the wild to fend for themselves. Some are whisked to a Friends of the Library Book Seller, where they are degraded and sold for a few bucks.
Some get shipped off to Goodwill, their final fate of finding a good home often bogged down by disorganization and disarray at the donation center, the book equivalent of an ICE Detention Facility.
Sadly, some are even given away to families who might foster them for a while, but they are never loved like one of the "real books" that might be kept on full display. They are usually hidden away in a nightstand drawer, or kept in a basement until they lose their smell. If ever read, it is shamefully done in secret. The reader never wants to be seen reading an old and refused library book.
And even if they do get read, they still live in fear, stacked in cardboard boxes waiting to be taken to the city dump.
This is a sad, broken system that sets discarded books up to fail once they are withdrawn from circulation.
Not helping the matter is the amount of visible evidence that these books have been "through the system." Stamped. Bound. Stickered. Spine Labeled. Laminated. Stamped Again.
Not helping the matter is the amount of visible evidence that these books have been "through the system." Stamped. Bound. Stickered. Spine Labeled. Laminated. Stamped Again.
Who would ever want to accept these disfigured monsters in their homes?
As a result of being in the library circulation system. old library books are viewed negatively by used bookstores. If a bookstore owner can overlook the physical scars of their past life, they often struggle to sell those books due to their outdated subject matter or niche appeal. A 300 page book on crocheting doilies? Tough sell.
The books that cannot sell are then put in a humiliating clearance section, where they are sold in groups for pocket change. 3 for a dollar. Buy one, take one.
Or a fate even worse: a box labeled FREE.
Who knows what will become of these lost souls. Material for a terrible art project someone saw on Etsy? Hollowed out to become hidden storage? Stripped and torn to create vintage bookmarks? Shredded to become a wreath or banner?
The horrors are endless.
So what can be done?
Book lovers everywhere can appreciate the value that these old library books might have and the joy that they might bring. “Book nerds” are being asked to take in any discarded library books they see on the streets and welcome them into their loving home. Oftentimes, the children in those homes will welcome those books just like any other, accepting them into their personal libraries and not judging the book by its cover.
There are even grassroots campaigns that will repurpose old library books, like Books to Prisoners, a Seattle-based nonprofit. They take or ship discarded library books to prisons in an attempt to "foster a love of reading behind bars, encourage the pursuit of knowledge and self-empowerment, and break the cycle of recidivism."
ALA Libraries also offers a resource guide on how to donate used books to prison libraries. That can be accessed here.
Wouldn't it be great if discarded library books didn't have to worry about their fate, knowing their future was already set once they are on the outside?
It’s time to break the cycle.