Friday, June 10, 2016

Why I Am a Book Hoarder

Well, okay, part of the reason I'm a book hoarder is because of packrat tendencies passed on to me genetically.  And because I always worry about needing it later if I get rid of it now.

But we've done okay at overcoming some of the packrattiness. 

Books, however ....   That's harder.

And Mrs Mussman explains part of the reason why.  The books printed today have an ideological bent.  Libraries are getting rid of old, "irrelevant" stories and replacing them with Brand Spankin' New Books.  And it's not just the in-your-face liberal brainwashing, which may be brash or subtle.  There's also
~ siblings who fight
~ normalization of divorce
~ stories that set up a no-way-but-to-sin situation
~ anti-heroes
~ "inverted" fairy tales (which may be fun for adults but are inappropriate for children).

Some books (like Harry Potter and Little House) aren't going away.  But so many great books from 70 or 80 or 100 years ago need to be cherished in people's homes because they have already been culled from public libraries or will be soon enough.

It's good.

2 comments:

  1. So true. I once went to a homeschool workshop that made the point that Amazon is so large that the only books that will continue to be printed are the best sellers at Amazon. I heard this about 6 years ago and it is coming true already. I have snatched up so many good books at library book sales knowing that I now own one of the last copies in the library system. So sad for my city to no longer have these books to check out, but good for my children and eventually grandchildren! We weeded the library this winter and got rid of 2000 books, but still have 8000! My local homeschooling friend just does not understand this book hoarding, she figures she can check everything out of the library. But I am the one she comes to when she is looking for something out of print!

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  2. I, too, am guilty. But not just me. My husband is my partner in this "crime". I have no idea how many we have, but we do have lots more than fit on our shelves. Even more than I have time to read.

    I do get so frustrated by the library not having good books that I want!

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