A Blog We Love

Every library staffer in every library in the world knows the pain of coming across a dangerously or hilariously out-of-date book in the stacks. The Awful Library Books blog chooses a different book each day, still on a library shelf somewhere, and illustrates why the specific book should be taken out of circulation.

Recent examples include:

• How to Deal with Parents and Other Problems (1959)
• Dee Snider’s Teenage Survival Guide (1987)
• Computer Tutor: Atari (1983)
• Reach for the Moon (1962)
• Special Effects Photography (1985)

And, there are many more every day with outdated health, business, and career information. While I wish I could say that the Santa Fe Public Library is devoid of all outdated materials, the honest truth is that new information is produced so quickly that some books are out-of-date the minute they hit the shelves.

We regularly go through our collection of almost 400,000 items to identify books that are in bad condition or have old information. If you come across such a book, please let us know. You can also recommend something more current through our catalog or by filling out a blue card at any reference desk.

In the meantime, I'm off to see if any area libraries still have a copy of Bert Bacharach's Book for Men (1953). Hilarious!