![]() “When that came out we couldn’t keep up with the demand and we ended up with over 100 copies, says Leonard. Grisham aside, another recent title she says has found itself on the chopping block is Michelle Obama’s 2018 autobiography Becoming. “When we see that items are no longer in demand, we will look at the number of copies and decide if we keep a small number or maybe just one for the whole region.” “As with all public libraries, we are in a continuous cycle of renewing collections to keep them fresh and engaging for our customers,” Leonard explains. Libraries in Tāmaki Makaurau contain over 3.2 million items, clearing out an average of 10 per cent a year, or 320,000 items. ![]() “For us, it is not just the book itself but the work that has gone into acquiring it, describing it, cataloguing it, and shelving it – it really feels like it has a bit of a life.”Īlthough she finds it sad, Leonard says this is the reality of the library book life cycle. “We really do have to steel ourselves,” she says. Every year, libraries across Aotearoa have to deselect thousands upon thousands of books to keep up with demand for new titles and maintain storage space.Īs necessary as it is – Tāmaki Makaurau alone purchases about 386,000 new items a year – Auckland Council head of library and learning services Catherine Leonard says that it is a part of the job that never gets any easier. ![]() And our libraries are facing the same issue. For example, his 2019 outing The Whistler – “a high-stakes thrill ride through the darkest corners of the Sunshine State” – now has only 28 copies available, and 2009’s The Associate – “if you thought Mitch McDeere was in trouble in The Firm, wait until you meet the associate” – has a mere five.Īnyone familiar with op shopping will know that popular titles dominate the book section, meaning it is a rare experience to enter any store in the country without encountering The Da Vinci Code, The World According to Clarkson, or Fifty Shades of Grey. There are currently more than 100 copies of his 2021 legal thriller The Judge’s List throughout Auckland City Libraries, but you only need to look to history to see how dramatically those numbers will dwindle in coming years. Alex Casey investigates their final resting places.Įveryone wants John Grisham until they don’t. Every year libraries are forced to cull thousands upon thousands of books to make room for new stock.
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