Children's books that are worn or damaged beyond repair may also be ‘recycled’ by laminating the illustrations and putting them on craft sticks to make puppets for library storytime, local child care centers, or teachers, or for creating flannelboard versions of popular stories. Many crafters have begun to ‘recycle’ books into works of art such as hollowed out ‘book boxes’ to hide valuables or store items, or turning them into purses and other items. See the Altered Book website, http://www.alteredbookartists.com/, for an amazing assortment of art made from old books. DESTRUCTION should be reserved for materials in the worst physical condition, the absolutely hopeless cases, and then only as a last resort if the books cannot be recycled or sold for pulp. The advantage of this method is that it requires minimal time and effort. The major drawback is that the library derives no benefits, in money or public relations, from the discarded materials. Besides contributing to the already overflowing landfills, this method of disposal is likeliest to cause a ‘weeding controversy,’ since many people are shocked by the ‘waste’ of throwing ‘good books’ on the trash heap. Also, ‘book burning’ has unpleasant connotations. If you can explain that only those books and nonprint items in the worst physical condition get this treatment, you may be able to avert negative publicity. Another potentially embarrassing situation that can occur is for well-intentioned patrons to ‘find’ library books in the trash and assume vandals have put them there. Although this method of disposal cannot be avoided, it should be the last resort.
CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries. http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/crew Texas State Library and Archives Commission
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