Obsolete library books: Another argument for E? Rip Van Winkles in charge of collection development?

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By David Rothman

“Among the anachronistic books cited are volumes on Halley’s Comet (1986) return, America’s crazy attempt at a moon landing (1969), and the grand strategy of the USSR (which dissolved in 1989).” – Time report on the Awful Library Books blog.

The TeleRead take: With e-books, of course, it’s much easier for libraries to manage collections and keep them up to date. Meanwhile enjoy the cover of Dee Snider’s Teenage Surival Guide, written in 1987.

Top image: It’s of a statue of Rip Van Winkle, the legendary sleeper, who, of course, could be in charge of collection dev for some p-libraries. But…

…In fairness to librarians: Despite my Van Winkle joke, the real culprits are politicians, whose budget cuts have deprived libraries of the people needed to manage collections properly. Higher acquisitions budgets could help as well. One cool thing about E is that it could increase the percentage of library budgets going for actual content—as opposed to just more money for shelving and whatnot.

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