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Have you donated books to the Brooklyn Public Library ??? — Brooklynian

Have you donated books to the Brooklyn Public Library ???

anonymous
anonymous
edited November -1 in Park Slope
Recently while walking down 8th St. I noticed what appeared to be numerous boxes of books in the Library trash. Upon investigation I discovered that these were not deaccessioned library books but wonderful clean, many unread books in all subject areas obviously donated by the general public.
I decidede to rescue some of these when two staff members exited the library threatening me with arrest. First if you donated to benefit the library, you should know how your donations are treated. Further as tax deductions are offered for donations, not only is this probably criminal, but we are all subsidizing a sytem that benefits noone, creates waste & trash etc .Any suggestions for addressing this issue???
Thx
neuralnerd

Comments

  • deedee
    deedee
    I would recommend writing a letter to the Executive Director of the Library describing what you saw and demanding an answer/explanation.
  • rose
    rose
    Are you talking about the Park Slope branch? They don't have much shelf space, so there's probably no way they can use most of the books that are donated (and they probably get tons of donations in Park Slope). I know they used to sell their excess books -- not sure if they still do since I haven't been there in a while. This is actually pretty common for libraries -- most of them can't actually use most of what is donated, so they sell it to raise funds.

    One thing is, just because a book is in good condition and unread doesn't mean anyone actually wants to read it or it has any value. So maybe the books you saw were books they couldn't use for their own collection and couldn't sell. And -- there may be some obscure city law that prevents them from giving books away, who knows. It does seem like a shame to throw away books, but I wouldn't automatically assume that there was wrongdoing here. I agree with DeeDee that you should write a letter and ask for an explanation.
  • anonymous
    anonymous

    Subject: books to the BPL

    I used to be a public librarian and know all about people bringing hundreds of books to the library. most of the time they mean well but mainly it is because they don't want to be bothered with the books and the guilt.

    It is true that library book budgets are dwindling, but that doesn't mean that they are clammoring for donations of every kind of book under the sun.

    Sorry to say, libraries throw things away all the time. Libraries want /need books to circulate. So they try very hard to use their limited shelf space for (mainly) popular titles/subjects for which there is likely to be demand. with 100,000 some odd new books being published every year, it's impossible to keep up with it all! most of the books that are donated do not fall into this category. and libraries cannot adminstratively deal with finding homes for the books they can't use.

    i know how you feel though. seeing books in a dumpster is still appalling to me. but this is NOT the case of librarians, the supposed custodians of the worlds knowledge turning into Guy Montags.

    Many libraries have policies that state that they will accept donations with the understanding that they are not under any obligation to handle it the way the donor expects. They might sell them at book sales or if they can't add it to the collection, discard them.
  • dailyheights
    dailyheights
    8th Ave?

    What library are we talking about here? Not the main branch. And the Park Slope branch is on 6th Ave.
  • pitu
    pitu
    Ack, hate to see that; drag that the workers chased you away from doing your bit to recycle.

    I usually leave a box out on the sidewalk for informal freecylcing . . .
    there was a funny arts installation I saw in Gowanus built around books picked off the street in PS.

    NYC has a donation list with lots of phone #s and links at
    http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwas.....omes.shtml

    Housing Works takes books (drag 'em to Crosby St, below Houston)
    http://www.housingworksauctions.com/donate.cfm

    I've seen signs in the Slope for donations for Red Tent on 4th St. It's a women's project, I don't know much about them. But they have book and clothes sales to raise money. http://www.redtentwomensproject.org
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