Climate Denial Books - should public libraries stock them?

[Kevbad the Bad]

The libraries I work in do not stock any newspapers

Politician's answer!

 

[Orang Utan]

Politician's answer!

eh? It’s just the answer

 

[newme]

Tricky question. Let's start with something a bit easier. Should libraries stock the Daily Mail?

No, nor any other national paper, maybe a local one but they aren't exactly local these days, nor on paper anyway.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

libraries used to have a reading room / area which had the dailies and local papers.

usually on this sort of thing to stop people nicking them

with occasional arguments about whether they should take the morning star, or ban the sun, depending on the council's political leanings...

 

[friedaweed]

Could have them in the Fiction Section.

Next to the bible.

 

[Orang Utan]

libraries used to have a reading room / area which had the dailies and local papers.

usually on this sort of thing to stop people nicking them

with occasional arguments about whether they should take the morning star, or ban the sun, depending on the council's political leanings...

Our service withdrew them during lockdown and have not reinstated them.
They did cause friction amongst customers - have to intervene once in an altercation between two elderly gentlemen who were about to fight over who got to do the Times Crossword first

 

[Rob Ray]

You’ve gone literal, I was being figurative. It’s fine.

Calling for books that you don’t like to be made not available is censorship.

The only libraries which request Freedom Press books are the national five which keep them for archive purposes. We aren't "censored," libraries just don't have us on their radar.

I don't think people clock exactly how many small publishers there are and how many books actually come out every year, even if libraries had unlimited budgets they're not catching everything. In reality choices have to be made, and personally I'm fine with those choices not including every chunk of climate change denial wibble that happens to be shat out.

Base accuracy in educational texts particularly is a legitimate deal breaker - I don't go to a library to be deliberately misinformed, and I don't particularly want the next self-taught engineering genius to be handed a book on bridge construction written by someone who hasn't got the foggiest idea what compression load is.

 

[Pickman's model]

Mein Kampf is a piece of historical record, I should hope libraries do stock it.

Loads of places do. Manchester Central library for example plus any number of academic libraries. For my money looking at mk is more likely to put people off than attract them to national socialism

 

[Pickman's model]

It should be stocked at the kind of library academics do research at. The public library on the high street between Boots and Nandos? Certainly not.

Yeh cos obvs only academics can be trusted to look at fascist documents without being fascistised

 

[Pickman's model]

Of course, opinions of all sorts should be available to everyone , but if they’re full of outright lies designed to mislead people and they’re written in bad faith by grifters
We wouldn’t stock Mein Kampf or any books promulgating ‘racial science’ but we do stock books that advocate pseudoscience, but am not sure where climate change denial books comes in between.
This is the book in question:

Politically Incorrect Guide to Climate Change (The Poli…

*Updated to include new section on the Green New Deal!*…

www.goodreads.com

As you can see from the other books suggested, the publisher is dodgy as fuck and we certainly wouldn’t stock The Politically Incorrect Guide To The South

Tbh there are books that are wrong that people ought to be able to see and there are books that are really good that people should be able to see. But there are also budgets and collection management policies and so you can't stock everything you might wish in the latter category or everything you should in the former one. There are also shit books that are shit that add nothing to a debate and there's no point spending money on those. If there was a dodgy climate science book that had been as influential as the bull curve then yeh there's a good case to get it and put it by books debunking it. But the book in question isn't such a beast.

There are also books that are wrong like some astrology books but if you're going to rule out everything on astrology as a dodgy idea then you're ruling out eg religion and the decline of magic and morandi's last prophecy. If the punters want something on astrology or whatnot I'm not sure there's a real reason to stop them having it, it hurts no one and people will use them. I don't think that's likely to be the case with the title you highlight

 

[Orang Utan]

My favourite genre of crazy woo books are those on angels and ‘angel therapy’ - complete batshit nonsense.
The books on the vibrational healing properties of crystals come a close second.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

My favourite genre of crazy woo books are those on angels and ‘angel therapy’ - complete batshit nonsense.
The books on the vibrational healing properties of crystals come a close second.

You're obviously not standing on a ley line.

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

Well, my view is this. Libraries are there in part, to educate so a judgement needs to be made about whether a piece of crap book citing pseudo-science actually fits that remit. If it does genuinely put the scientific case for the tiny number of climate scientists who disagree with the over whelming consensus then maybe stock it. Otherwise, nope.

When it comes to paranormal or spiritual stuff I feel that science does not have anything valid to say about it - its a different area. There is no consensus on spiritual stuff. You'd have to remove all the religious books too, and i don't think that would end well.

 

[MickiQ]

Repository libraries should stock every book no matter what, University libraries should stock every book (obs skipping things like firt reading) as far as is possible within the constraints of budget. As for public libraries, I'm with Orang Utan's bosses on this. If lots of people ask for it then get it otherwise make a best value judgement on what they should stock. I imagine they must have some idea as to what is likely to be popular.

 

[Orang Utan]

Repository libraries should stock every book no matter what, University libraries should stock every book (obs skipping things like firt reading) as far as is possible within the constraints of budget. As for public libraries, I'm with Orang Utan's bosses on this. If lots of people ask for it then get it otherwise make a best value judgement on what they should stock. I imagine they must have some idea as to what is likely to be popular.

Is firt reading a typo?

 

[Chilli.s]

I dont think libraries should be told what to stock, any punter who wants to read some wacky/offensive/nonsense tales will still be able to order it up and theyll get it in for them to enjoy/endure

 

[Orang Utan]

I dont think libraries should be told what to stock, any punter who wants to read some wacky/offensive/nonsense tales will still be able to order it up and theyll get it in for them to enjoy/endure

Isn’t that a contradictory statement?

 

[Chilli.s]

Isn’t that a contradictory statement?

no, ordered from central stock, not on the shelf in the local library

 

[Orang Utan]

no, ordered from central stock, not on the shelf in the local library

But once it’s ordered in, that’s where it’ll end up as it gets circulated, unless deliberately kept in the IAR department centrally

 

[Chilli.s]

But once it’s ordered in, that’s where it’ll end up as it gets circulated, unless deliberately kept in the IAR department centrally

Dont they get returned to wherever libraries keep all the stock? When Iv ordered up things in the past I was under the impression that was what happened

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

Repository libraries should stock every book no matter what, University libraries should stock every book (obs skipping things like firt reading) as far as is possible within the constraints of budget. As for public libraries, I'm with Orang Utan's bosses on this. If lots of people ask for it then get it otherwise make a best value judgement on what they should stock. I imagine they must have some idea as to what is likely to be popular.

if they did order every single book published maybe so - but they don't do they? They make a judgement.

What about self published books?

What about extremely racist books?

I mean - a judgement is always made.

 

[Sasaferrato]

View attachment 373625

Blake?

 

[Sasaferrato]

If you believed the bit about Don Juan turning himself into a raven (?), I'll have whatever you're smoking

You don't get stuff that good anymore.

 

[Sasaferrato]

It is available at in the Information and Research department in the central library, but not the branch I work in for the most part.

I did try and read it. Got about twenty pages in and binned it. A literary genius he was not.

 

[Orang Utan]

Dont they get returned to wherever libraries keep all the stock? When Iv ordered up things in the past I was under the impression that was what happened

Not in my service - it’s a good way of circulating books round different branches. You can return books to any library and they stay there until borrowed again (with a few exceptions - books borrowed from specialty departments in the central library such as art and music

 

[A380]

Loads of places do. Manchester Central library for example plus any number of academic libraries. For my money looking at mk is more likely to put people off than attract them to national socialism

Come on, Milton Keynes isn’t that bad.

 

[Karl Masks]

Mein Kampf is a piece of historical record, I should hope libraries do stock it.

Preferably in the kids section

 

[Karl Masks]

Of course, opinions of all sorts should be available to everyone , but if they’re full of outright lies designed to mislead people and they’re written in bad faith by grifters
We wouldn’t stock Mein Kampf or any books promulgating ‘racial science’ but we do stock books that advocate pseudoscience, but am not sure where climate change denial books comes in between.
This is the book in question:

Politically Incorrect Guide to Climate Change (The Poli…

*Updated to include new section on the Green New Deal!*…

www.goodreads.com

As you can see from the other books suggested, the publisher is dodgy as fuck and we certainly wouldn’t stock The Politically Incorrect Guide To The South

I would say no.

 

[tim]

Our service withdrew them during lockdown and have not reinstated them.
They did cause friction amongst customers - have to intervene once in an altercation between two elderly gentlemen who were about to fight over who got to do the Times Crossword first

I hope you took an executive decision and made some photocopies, as there are no second chances with crosswords.

 

[cesare]

Ones especially in the States seem to have branched out into other things, some you can get things like power tools/other equipment out etc, they also seem to have better digital lending then at least I can find locally. Of course this all requires actually funding properly first.

That happens here too. Some libraries have a "library of things" where you can borrow power tools etc for a daily or weekly (very reasonable) rate. There's one near me.