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It Was Inevitable That the Book Ban Wars Would Reach Book Stores
(www.esquire.com)
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this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2023
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Probably because nobody reads it at the bookstore. At the library though, that’s by design.
Libraries cannot keep a copy of every book in existence. Not even vast libraries like the British Library or the Library of Congress can attempt that. I would guess that, in the U.S., State and Revolution is not especially widely read, so keeping it on the shelves makes no more sense than the time my librarian wife showed me a weeded book called something like "Getting Along with Jewish Neighbors" from the 1950s. It's well-meaning, it could teach ignorant people a lot, but no one in the 21st century is going to read it except as a curiosity.
It wasn’t just Lenin. It was recent authors too. Anything vaguely socialist/communist. I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy. I’m sure it has to do with interest. But if I was doing a research paper on that subject, it would be difficult.
You did though.
Geez dude, I implied it. Drink some water. Maybe it is. Do you know? Give me evidence that it’s not, with citations please? Does it matter? Maybe worry about this instead of some guy on the internet making spurious claims. Pedantry is prosaic.
[citation needed]
Yeah, libraries have limited shelf space so their inventory is at least partially driven by demand. They generally try to keep a mix of popular and scholarly works on hand. I can guarantee that if you're looking for a particular book and they don't have it that they can order it for you, it just might take a little while to be shipped from one of the locations that actually has a copy.
Libraries by me have plenty of shelves but not enough on the shelves. They wind up selling used books to try to make money for the library.
It's disappointing to go to a library and not see shelves filled and filled with books
I work in a library, and we're actually doing that on purpose. It turns out that circulation improves significantly if you weed out the copies that look dated and old. When people come to browse for books (not diehard readers, but more casual readers), they have a hard time finding books that peak their interest when they're surrounded by "junk," so they just don't get anything. It took me a bit to get used to, but I can't argue with the results. We've heavily weeded, got updated covers of classics, and keep up with current popular books, and they're flying off the shelves. As much as we say, "Don't judge a book by its cover," it's something most people do.
I mean, ok, but it sucks when the scifi section is one half of an aisle, and each shelf is only half full. I'm sure I could order it and have it show up later but thats inconvenient
Is your library genrefied?? But yeah it may just be an oversight on whoever orders books because they aren't familiar with the genre, and people who want to read scifi probably aren't requesting. I have to watch for that on biographies when I'm ordering because I don't personally read them, so I'm not as focused on buying new ones. For us, the most popular scifi books are also dystopian, but the hard scifi doesn't get any circulation.
Andy Weir is doing great things for the genre right now, which I think will help in the future! He writes in a very accessible, conversational, fun way that is engaging the general population with scifi. People who saw The Martian are reading Project Hail Mary and loving it! I'm excited to see what happens next!
Edit: I realized you may be talking about book store shelves instead. 🤦♀️
No - there's an inter library loan system so you can order a book and have it show up a bit later for you to check out. But kind of hard to do that if I don't know what I want to read.
I cited myself and my anecdotal evidence. I went to the library to find books on socialism. Even looked on the database for the county. Their holdings were sparse or nonexistent. But don’t take my word. See for yourself. Maybe in larger urban areas you’ll have more luck. I live near an urban area and was unsuccessful.
You said it was by design as opposed to people just not reading it enough to keep it on the shelves.
Did you speak with the librarian to see about getting some in for you? Were you only looking for old titles instead of something newer? Do you just assume some kind of malice because you didn't find what you were looking for?
I did assume malice. Because it conformed to my preconceived notions. And you know what, it made me feel justified in my self-righteousness . Then I went home and had a sandwich.