When I weed books that are inappropriate to give to students or to put
in the classroom I have to box them and have my student helpers put them
directly in the dumpster when no one is watching. My predecessors
(apparently) did no weeding. I have spent 6 years trying to get rid of
all of the garbage. The teachers and custodians were freaked at the
idea of a librarian throwing out books. If we put books in the garbage
can, the custodians would take them out. If we box them and leave them
for the custodians to remove, clearly labeled as trash, they leave them,
certain that I have made a horrendous mistake. I had a teacher actually
stop my TAs from throwing books in the dumpster, certain that they had
misunderstood me or that Mr. Doyle had lost his mind. I have had the
"can't these books be donated..." conversation with at least 10
teachers. No matter how eloquently (or forcefully) I argue you can see
in their eyes that they are never fully convinced. They are sure there
is a flaw in my logic that they are missing. I give up. We smuggle
books to the dumpster in plain, unmarked boxes, like we are moving
contraband across the border.
----
Tony Doyle, Librarian
Livingston High School, Livingston, CA
tdoyle@muhsd.k12.ca.us
<Http://www.lhs.muhsd.k12.ca.us/library/index.htm>
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get
people to stop reading them."-- Ray Bradbury
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