What do these books have in common (besides the infamy of being dumped for recycling by media specialists at North Charleston High School? [See the P & C Watchdog's Books Found in Trash]- Words to Rhyme With--original copyright 1986; new edition 2006 costs $20.
- The Encyclopedia of Mammals--original copyright 1984; new three-volume edition 2006 costs $325.
- The Encyclopedia of Birds--copyright 1985; new copies available for $25.
- Supernatural Fiction Writers--copyright 1985; two-volume edition 2002 "supplementing but not replacing" the first two-volume edition costs $265.
Why, we can't tolerate that here in South Carolina. Imagine our high school students trying to read books that are older than they are. What is this world coming to? Next thing you know, North Charleston High School will be on the Corridor of Shame.
Clearly to avoid contamination, yellowing pages, or outdated ideas we need to set up book-burning services. That way these noxious copies won't fall into the evil hands of (shudder) homeschoolers like Ranie Jordan. Is it too late to use the North Charleston incinerator? Call Fahrenheit 451.
The ignorant masses haven't yet learned what librarians (excuse me, media specialists) know from their training: old is bad; new is good. The process is called "weeding," since old books are equal to weeds.
So we must ask the question: if half the incoming class can't read beyond a third-grade level, is it better to replace 20-year-old books or to spend the funds elsewhere?
That is the real story. That these ended up being discarded inappropriately? Look at the described bureaucratic hassle set up after the last fiasco. Don't bet good money that no other still usable books received the dumpster treatment in CCSD this year.
Now, about that tax increase for the school budget. . . .
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5 comments:
We use our weed books in the student bookstore.
They purchase the books with tickets for good behavior.
Wish we could get books from other schools. We'd take em.
That sounds like a great idea,6:03. Which school is that? Is there no communication between schools to share unwanted materials?
I hate the thought of books going into the trash... there are so many other places they could be useful... I don't understand this kind of thinking... oh wait, they aren't thinking!!!
I suppose an earlier edition of the Autobiography of Malcolm X is somehow "out of date". Please tell me when the author is preparing to release a revised edition.
I never understood the reasoning of this school district. I seem to recall during the first ten years of this experiment in consolidation, CCSD ordered a similar purging of library books. (Library? That's what media centers used to be called.) Following CCSD's purge of one's school's experienced staff, the new and eager toadies couldn't wait to throw out the old (by the ton) and bring in the new (of far lesser weight). Out the back door and into the dumpsters went first edition copies of Dubose Heyward, John Bennett and Hervey Allen. All were signed by the authors. About 5,000 one-of-a-kind photos, many nearly 100 years old, also went to the landfill along with most of the books.
To be fair, there is one CCSD official who manages to save some documents. They shall remain nameless, least the superintendent attempts to seek them out for punishment. This employee is a saint, though they must feel like the last archivist in Rome in an age of Vandals.
I guess to the educrats running CCSD, Malcolm X is now just another "dead White male".
There is trouble with this kind of hard and fast 20 year rule for aging out books, or whatever measure CCSD is using. Commons sense is required which CCSD is in notoriously short supply among school district administrators. They seem to think a 20 year old history or collection of poetry should be trashed, but a 10 year old encyclopedia or almanac is just fine. This raises additional questions about the competency of the institutions that trained these educators.
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