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Libraries regularly weed their collections of literary wallflowers, those dowdy works that never seem to circulate.
Space is precious, and old or middle-aged titles have to compete against every dewy debutant that captures an Oprah nod or a book-club buzz. Movies, music and recorded books and other, newer media claim more space every year.
But no libraries in the Fredericksburg area have ditched Dickens or axed Austen, and area librarians say there will always be room and a steady if small demand for the classics.
A recent news story about the Fairfax County library system's method of culling its collection implied otherwise, describing the ruthless banishing of books that didn't circulate within a two-year span. Patron demand might mean John Grisham could give Ernest Hemingway the heave-ho, or "The Da Vinci Code" could displace "Moby Dick."
Whether or not that's an accurate characterization of Fairfax's methods, it doesn't reflect the collection-weeding policies of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library--which serves Fredericksburg and the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford and Westmoreland--or of the library systems in Fauquier, Orange and King George counties, librarians say.
In general, librarians who make decisions about collections said patron demand is only one factor in determining which books stay or go. Just as important are a book's physical condition and in some cases its timeliness.
A copy of a children's classic on a school reading list, for example, might get pulled not because it doesn't get checked out, but because it circulates so much it falls apart.
"After 45 or 50 kids have read 'The Black Stallion,' it's kind of rough," said Katie Hill of the Orange County library system. In some cases, a discarded book is replaced immediately, and in other cases it's available from at least one of the county's three branches, so a patron can ask for a copy to be delivered to his home library.
Even a book in good condition must go if librarians determine it's no longer up to date. Nonfiction books on health, medicine and law get frequent reviews for timeliness, said Fran Burke-Urr of Fauquier's library system. Books about less-changeable topics, such as art or home repair, have longer shelf lives.
In each library system, a book that doesn't circulate for 24 or 36 months probably will be reviewed for culling, librarians said. But a lack of patron demand doesn't automatically relegate a title to the Friends of the Library book-sale pile.
And classics--works by renowned authors that hold their critical acclaim decades or centuries after their publication--are usually spared.
At King George's L.E. Smoot Memorial Library, librarian Rita Schepmoes said: "If it hasn't circulated in three years, we consider taking it off the shelves. But if it's a classic, we consider leaving it on."
Burke-Urr in Fauquier gave the example of Greek drama--not a sizzling genre at any of the system's three branches. But library patrons could nevertheless find "Oedipus Rex" and other works of Sophocles on the shelves if they wanted them.
At headquarters and branches of the Central Regional Rappahannock Library, "We would not simply say, 'OK, it hasn't been checked out so we're taking it off the shelves,'" said Caroline Parr, youth services coordinator.
Instead, CRRL librarians might place a worthy but languishing classic in an attractive display near the circulation desk, drawing impulse readers the way a retail store checkout line tempts shoppers, Parr said.
Librarians also want to be prepared if a book gets a sudden spike in public interest--if it is made into a movie, or if its author suddenly makes the news. So they might hang onto a low-circulating book that was once a best-seller or received critical acclaim.
But CRRL and other libraries say that while their collections grow steadily, buildings don't. Most existing libraries have minimal storage space, so holding onto obscure, unpopular titles isn't an option.
"We're not the Library of Congress," Parr said. "We're not trying to archive every single book published."
Still, she said, librarians make judgment calls and are sometimes influenced by personal sentiment.
Librarians, Parr said, are fond of saying, "It's not a good collection if there's not one book on the shelf that's there because the librarian loves it."
To reach LAURA MOYER:
Email: lmoyer@freelancestar.com
What readers want The Central Rappahannock Regional Library's five most-circulated titles for December and January: Fiction 'Twelve Sharp,' 'Beach Road,' 'Two Little Girls in Blue,' by Mary Higgins Clark 'Angel's Fall,' 'Dear John,' Nonfiction 'The Innocent Man: Murder & Injustice in 'The Audacity of Hope,' 'Christmas With Southern Living' 'You on a Diet,' 'The Life and Times |
