{"id":1674,"date":"2011-06-01T14:21:25","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T04:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stumblingpast.wordpress.com\/?p=1674"},"modified":"2022-08-04T00:24:52","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T00:24:52","slug":"libraries-warehouses-for-dead-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stumblingpast.com\/2011\/06\/01\/libraries-warehouses-for-dead-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Libraries: Warehouses for Dead Books?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Fisher<\/a><\/p>\n

The University of Sydney’s Fisher Library has joined a growing list of libraries to attract the wrath of borrowers at the suggestion that a large number of books are to be removed from the shelves.\u00a0 Recently libraries at the University of Denver<\/a> and the University of New South Wales<\/a> also attracted criticism from borrowers.\u00a0 These protests\u00a0 demonstrate that libraries are regarded as providing an important service in our society.\u00a0 More importantly they demonstrate that libraries are undergoing a transformation. As with all transformations it is a painful, exciting and uncertain time.\u00a0 We cannot be certain about what lies in the future for libraries, but we do know that libraries cannot continue to function in the same way they did last century.\u00a0 This is the Information Age and as libraries have traditionally been the source of information for our society, it is hardly surprising that these usually quiet places are now the centre of an intense debate.<\/p>\n

Nothing about our present understanding of libraries should be taken for granted.\u00a0 In this post I want to focus on the role that libraries currently fulfil as archives.\u00a0 Seth Godin<\/a> recently made a provocative comment on libraries as archives:<\/p>\n

The library is no longer a warehouse for dead books.<\/p>\n

Seth Godin, ‘The future of the library<\/a>‘, 16\/5\/2011.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Godin’s post is designed to shock us into thinking of libraries in a different way.\u00a0 He is talking about public libraries, presumably like those that are scattered throughout our suburbs and towns\u00a0 rather than\u00a0 academic libraries or libraries that seek to act as archives such as our state libraries in Australia.\u00a0 While these local libraries have a role to play in preserving local history, they cannot afford to think of themselves as archives for books unless the books focus on their locality.\u00a0 I don’t have a problem with local libraries removing books from their shelves that are out of date and rarely or never used.\u00a0 If the locality does not have any other reliable archival service that looks after local history, the library would need to take on that role and retain material that provides insights into this.<\/p>\n

However, I am concerned about Godin’s reference to “dead books”. What is a dead book? Earlier in his post Godin used the example of an ‘out of date encyclopedia’. Perhaps he thinks of a dead book as one that contains superseded information. But the term “dead book” can convey the impression that these type of books are worthless and therefore should not be stored anywhere.\u00a0 We still need to keep old books, even if the information they contain is out of date.\u00a0 I work with old education textbooks and while I would not refer to them for advice on teaching now, the information gives us insight into the education that all children were receiving in the post-compulsory schooling era. The attitudes, knowledge and skills of millions of people have been substantially influenced by what these out of date textbooks were telling their teachers about how to teach. Our understanding of the past has been enhanced because libraries retained these books.\u00a0 Books with obsolete professional or technical information are not dead.\u00a0 The information these books contain takes on a new life as it is used in ways that the authors had never envisaged.<\/p>\n

Gary Pearce<\/a> wrote about this issue last week but his focus was on academic libraries.\u00a0 In the context of Godin’s argument that libraries are not warehouses, Pearce stated:<\/p>\n

… anyone who thinks that the main role of the academic library is to maintain the \u201carchive\u201d just hasn\u2019t been paying attention.<\/p>\n

Gary Pearce, ‘The curious case of shrinking libraries, coffee carts and ‘the dust test<\/a>‘, The Drum (ABC), <\/em>25\/5\/2011.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Pearce is not entirely rejecting the archival role of academic libraries, but he does not see it is as the principal focus of academic libraries – there are more important roles that academic libraries have to fulfil.\u00a0 I agree with him, but I am concerned about the direction this could take us.\u00a0 I can envisage some time in the future librarians faced with difficult budget constraints deciding to concentrate on their main business and discontinuing secondary roles such as keeping archives of old books.<\/p>\n

In my comment on Pearce’s article I wrote:<\/p>\n

We need to retain the archive function in our society. Maybe we are going through a period where there is a clearer separation between the functions of libraries as information exchanges and archives? Maybe there will be a formal separation of these roles?<\/p>\n

We need to examine the function and operation of archives in our society at the same time as we are reviewing the role of libraries. If we don\u2019t we run the risk of compromising the work of historians in the future because in the rush to embrace the new we might allow our archives to wither.<\/p>\n

Yvonne Perkins, comment on Gary Pearce, ‘The curious case of shrinking libraries, coffee carts and ‘the dust test<\/a>‘, The Drum (ABC), <\/em>25\/5\/2011.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I don’t think anyone would argue against our society retaining historical records, but it would be so easy to overlook the needs of archives in this debate and then find years in the future that we have lost a lot of our historical sources.\u00a0 There are some great initiatives being undertaken in this area which I have covered in a previous post<\/a>.\u00a0 But I am concerned that this issue is lacking the systematic society-wide attention that is needed.<\/p>\n

This is a debate for everyone, not just librarians. I am not a librarian. Historians, in particular, have an important voice that needs to be heard in this debate.\u00a0 We are so reliant on libraries to do what we do.\u00a0 We also need to hear from archivists who are also struggling with budget constraints.\u00a0 Most importantly we need to hear from you.\u00a0 The archival role of libraries is diminishing.\u00a0 What systematic steps do we as a society need to take to ensure that we retain old, infrequently used books given that libraries do not see this as their principal role?<\/p>\n

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Further Discussion About Libraries<\/h3>\n

The following\u00a0 is just a small selection of the myriad blog posts and articles that have examined the role of libraries in the 21st century during the last couple of weeks.\u00a0 I have tried to include perspectives from people working with different types of libraries such as public libraries, academic libraries and school libraries.\u00a0 There will be many posts that I have missed.\u00a0 You may want to share good posts on this topic that you have come across.<\/p>\n