As a librarian, I deal a fair bit with books. One of my bittersweet tasks is determining when books should be weeded from the collection. There are no universal hard-and-fast rules for making such determinations, so each librarian (and each librarian) ultimately has their own idiosyncratic method. I find it interesting to hear others' rationales for their weeding decisions.
One criteria that lots of people (whether librarian or otherwise) seem to use when deciding to get rid of a book is whether or not there's writing on the pages. (The technical term is "marginalia") In libraries, this is often taken as reason to replace a heavily-used book with a new "clean" copy.
Perhaps it is the historian in me, but I've never really agreed with that judgment. I find the marginalia of books absolutely fascinating. I always wonder about who the prior owners/users of the title were. The best is when you find books that have rather extensive notes/challenges/questions written into the margins. As far as I'm concerned, it enhances the work; Because now rather than simply the author's point of view, you get a conversation between the author and your fellow reader. If there's room left, I enjoy writing in my own comments as well.
This is another aspect of ebooks that I find less than thrilling. While there are technologies that allow us to save notes on ebooks...they are almost always restricted to our particular copies. Where is the fun in that? Where is the sense of community? "But," you may say, "you could just experience community through a book discussion group." True...but only with the living. Have you ever had the experience of going back and reading the marginalia of a grandparent or great-grandparent? Very often, it represents the only way to have conversation with them. And what of the internal dialogues that can be fostered by going back and reading marginalia that you placed in a book during your childhood? as a angsty teenager? as a devil-may-care twentysomething?
I think you get my point. I like marginalia. So, while I don't advocate defacing library books, I would ask you to please feel free to write in your own books. Leave your intellectual epiphanies and your sarcastic comments...your questions and your asides. Even if the books are someday sold to people who never knew you, you will have given them a special treasure and ensured yourself a certain continued presence.
One criteria that lots of people (whether librarian or otherwise) seem to use when deciding to get rid of a book is whether or not there's writing on the pages. (The technical term is "marginalia") In libraries, this is often taken as reason to replace a heavily-used book with a new "clean" copy.
Perhaps it is the historian in me, but I've never really agreed with that judgment. I find the marginalia of books absolutely fascinating. I always wonder about who the prior owners/users of the title were. The best is when you find books that have rather extensive notes/challenges/questions written into the margins. As far as I'm concerned, it enhances the work; Because now rather than simply the author's point of view, you get a conversation between the author and your fellow reader. If there's room left, I enjoy writing in my own comments as well.
This is another aspect of ebooks that I find less than thrilling. While there are technologies that allow us to save notes on ebooks...they are almost always restricted to our particular copies. Where is the fun in that? Where is the sense of community? "But," you may say, "you could just experience community through a book discussion group." True...but only with the living. Have you ever had the experience of going back and reading the marginalia of a grandparent or great-grandparent? Very often, it represents the only way to have conversation with them. And what of the internal dialogues that can be fostered by going back and reading marginalia that you placed in a book during your childhood? as a angsty teenager? as a devil-may-care twentysomething?
I think you get my point. I like marginalia. So, while I don't advocate defacing library books, I would ask you to please feel free to write in your own books. Leave your intellectual epiphanies and your sarcastic comments...your questions and your asides. Even if the books are someday sold to people who never knew you, you will have given them a special treasure and ensured yourself a certain continued presence.
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