But...but...who will want Pagemaker for Dummies 1.0, 1982? Do you? Or...Bodice-Buster #276 in the Victorian Romance Series? Do you think they want these in Africa?
I love the great generosity behind the impulse to manage the death of books. All of us know the effect of book-burning images on our minds from Nazi Germany, and we are fighting our own contemporary wars on banned books. But some books are beyond their time and usefulness. Give them away free? Okay, but who will manage that effort? What to do with the books left on the shelves? Are they trashed in the middle of the night so that you will feel better because you did not know? Everything has its natural end, and we are in an era of discarding: badly dated (and badly written) books, old computer hardware, vehicles that don't drive, refrigerators that don't refrigerate. The problem is that, of this list, books have an emotional tug on us, a psychological bond. If this is recognized, and acknowledged, we can better let books go to the dumpster with a fond "Thank You!" for what usefulness or pleasure they once provided. Deborah Morse-Kahn, Linden Hills REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
