Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
As to the cost/read ratio. I view it as one of the costs of affluence. Why do libraries get rid of books? (They do.) There's a check-out count over time. If a book sits in a library for years and nobody checks it out, it get dumped, to be replaced by something new, (and hopefully more popular). (Unless there's archival reference reason for keeping the item. Scientific periodicals are kept for very long periods.) I like to think that I'm "rich" enough to afford unread books, like I can keep hand tools I need once every few years...
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Most libraries get rid of books for the same reason individuals do: because shelf space is finite. The last I knew, there ware about 50,000 titles published in the US each year. How many can the library actually stock, even if they have the budget to buy them?
And they will acquire multiple copies of various titles they expect to be popular.
Reference books and classics will likely have a long shelf life. This month's romance bestseller may not.
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Dennis