[78-L] Music Sale

Ron Fial ron at fial.com
Thu Apr 11 14:42:12 PDT 2013


I suppose that librarians have limited space, and are not likely to keep something nobody is seeking, at the expense of newer material with lots of demand.  If the library use declines, the librarians can lose their jobs.  So it is in their self interest to dump the high weight and volume 78s and LPs for more 'current' stuff.

I don't think that museums can be much help.  Museums seem to want only a few artistically fine or famous examples of each kind of object.

I remember a few years ago an independent person or group was trying to create an comprehensive archive of 78s -- and collecting donations of money and recordings.  Has  this effort continued?  If so, what is it called? 

Regards,
Ron Fial

__________________________________________________
At 06:41 AM 4/3/2013, you wrote:
>Lots of libraries dump. The University of Toronto Faculty of Music hasn't had a 
>full-time slave in the dungeon for a couple of years but still accepts 
>donations (limited) and culls the dupes and has a sale every year. 
>Hobart-William Smith College in Geneva NY needed a storage room, so everything 
>in it (THOUSANDS of fabulous 78s including most of a Carnegie Collection) was 
>offered to collectors at pennies per disc.
>
>dl
>
>On 4/3/2013 9:32 AM, Ron L'Herault wrote:
>> My town library dumped, without microfilming first, all their copies of"
>> Hobbies".   Had I only known.
>>
>>
>> Ronald L'Herault
>>
>> Lab Supervisor, Biomaterials Division
>> B.U. School of Dental Medicine
>> 801 Albany Street S203
>> Roxbury, MA 02119
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com
>> [mailto:78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com] On Behalf Of Michael Biel
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2013 1:09 AM
>> To: 78-L Mail List
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Music Sale
>>
>> From: Mike Harkin<xxm.harkin at yahoo.com>
>>> How can a library provide service and be a resource if
>>> they're selling everything off?   Mike in Plovdiv
>>
>> I agree 100%, but many librarians will tell you that libraries are not
>> archives.  A RESEARCH library has more reason for retaining everything, but
>> most libraries do not serve researchers, just readers, and they need to keep
>> currently wanted materials.  Things that are not used are not retained.
>> I've tried to explain to some that researchers want to be the first to use
>> materials, but once again, that is not of concern to many librarians who
>> only know how to catalog stuff and have never done research or USED their
>> library.
>> As a matter of fact, I started collecting books because I discovered in grad
>> school that I couldn't trust that a book I had used in a library would still
>> be in their catalog next time I needed it.
>>
>> For media, our university library only wanted the LATEST format, so out went
>> the films, filmstrips, and LPs.  I did get a lot of them.  They also dumped
>> their phonographs and projectors and I got more than a dozen of each. When
>> the Soviet Union broke up, about a year or two later I got about 100 books
>> about the USSR from their disposal sales.  Obsolete.
>>
>> Once a student of mine misplaced a book and he asked me to help keep them
>> from charging him more than twice what the book was worth -- it might have
>> been $75.  Today I'd just check on Amazon or ebay and get a cheap copy, but
>> luckily the kid FOUND the book in time.  About 8 months later THAT DAMN BOOK
>> WAS IN THEIR DISPOSAL SALE FOR A QUARTER.  I grabbed it and stormed into the
>> librarian's office.  I ripped him a new one, and for the next 20 years I
>> didn't let him forget it.  No kid who ever came to me had to pay a fine for
>> a lost book.
>>
>> Right now, most libraries are relying on the internet, and the shelves could
>> be empty and nobody would notice.  You need a book, check in inter-library
>> loan.  Or buy it on line.
>>
>> Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com
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