http://now.msn.com/now/0619-book-burning


What the hell? Calling in the fire department to help take care of the problem? Gee that sounds familiar, and not in a good way either. Do they REALLY mean to say that there is NOBODY, no book collectors, no libraries, no anything or anybody who would want any of these books?

She does say she wants to donate the rest of the books if they are sorted.

I understand the knee jerk reaction people have when they read "book burning". Like the Fourth Reich is upon us. But this ain't that. And it's not Canada being backward. I used to work in a retail book store. What do you think happens with many books that aren't sold? A shit load more tonnage is destroyed than what's mentioned here. Hey, if no one wants them what's the person supposed to do?

Well, the sad truth is, many of the books may be damaged or molded. That is a lot of books for a private party to have. All anyone can hope is they do the best they can to find people to take the books.

Super, you are probably going to disown me, but I have burned books. My dad works at a recycling place as a little part time job and he brings me all the books people bring. Sometimes these books are too far gone. Mostly it is fiction paperbacks that have been in a basement for years and are smelling awful and pages have yellowed. I always recycle them now, but when he would bring boxes of them when I was yonger, there are times they have gone into the fire pit.

Those books aren't being burned to keep people from reading them or learning something, so I don't see a problem with it. If you have a library that massive and can't give them away and can't house them any more what would you do? I guess they could go into a landfill.

Reminds me of this old book/movie:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451


I can see burning them if they are damaged beyond being salvaged, but there's always a way to put them to use if they aren't in that condition--donate them to some of the countries who aren't as fortunate as the USA is, to have books; there's organizations out there that will ship them to places in need.

The difference though with Fahrenheit 451, was book burning was done to keep the masses ignorant and so easier to control by a dictator as was done in Nazi Germany. These books are being burned simply because the owner can't find someone who wants them. If there are organizations that want the books they are welcome to go get them. I love books but I sure wouldn't have room for them.

Suzi wrote:

The difference though with Fahrenheit 451, was book burning was done to keep the masses ignorant and so easier to control by a dictator as was done in Nazi Germany. These books are being burned simply because the owner can't find someone who wants them. If there are organizations that want the books they are welcome to go get them. I love books but I sure wouldn't have room for them.

And yet at the same time I can't help but wonder just WHAT this woman has done to try and get rid of them, they say she's sorted through about a third of them, but if she had put the word out that she had this many and anybody who wanted to help take them away could, you'd think word about this whole thing would've gotten out before now.

I don't know what you're getting so upset over. It's not like she's going to burn 30 tons worth of the Koran.

Supernova wrote:

And yet at the same time I can't help but wonder just WHAT this woman has done to try and get rid of them, they say she's sorted through about a third of them, but if she had put the word out that she had this many and anybody who wanted to help take them away could, you'd think word about this whole thing would've gotten out before now.

Well it is in the news, as I said any one who wants all or some of them simply should go get them.

Maybe they will because a lot of people have been commenting on how a lot of these seem to be first editions, you can't let them go to waste, and how many libraries and schools would benefit from more books, that's definitely true too.

Personally, we do recycle books, but only if either they're falling apart, you know if the binding's bad, if the pages are loose, I still hold onto them, if whole sections come out when I turn a page, then after I read it, it's going to the recycling center, or, if they're those crappy romance novels that nobody buys anyway so there's no other way to get rid of them. But burning them? That's something that would never occur to any of us; my family is the kind that prides itself on not letting anything go to waste and if somebody else can benefit from something you don't want, then what we do is donate them to the thrift shop or books to the library for its bi-yearly sales so somebody else can enjoy them. I can't imagine what it must be like having as many books as this woman has to decide what to do with, but we would find a way to sort through them, keep anything we wanted and donate the rest long before the idea ever occurred to us to burn them.