What’s going on in the Blume Library?

You may have noticed some empty shelves as you walk into the Louis J. Blume Library. We will be starting construction on a new Learning Commons in May 2012 and we are making some preparations for that space.

The library is discarding both journals and reference books that are available to our faculty and students as on-line digital resources. We are NOT discarding non-reference books from the circulating collection on the third floor. This is something we would have done in a leisurely fashion anyway and no one would have noticed. Libraries do it every day, all over the world. If not, we would be buried under tons of useless information and misinformation and the university would have to build a new wing for the library every ten years or even more often. We have had to move quickly this semester because we are starting construction on the new Learning Commons in May and have to move substantial quantities of books and journals between the floors to make the space available.

NOTE: While we ARE recycling material that is useless to our students and faculty, we are not lightly throwing away material that might be useful to other libraries. We are working with Better World Books, a company that redistributes books to libraries serving developing countries and other nonprofits, and sells used books to individuals. We have shipped more than 9 tons of books to them for redistribution or discounted sales to Haiti, various African countries, and other places. We could do no more than that. You can read more about Better World Books in Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_World_Books

See the environmental metrics document to learn more about this activity, which has brought $8,744.82 back to the library and is being used to purchase ebooks.

based on information provided by Dr. H. Palmer Hall, Director, Louis J. Blume Library, St. Mary’s University