Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! - Where Are They Now?
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Saturn
 Posts: 513 |
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I certainly hope that's not true. My library has a little store in it where you can buy old books and donated ones, and one day a month they give them away for free. Even if the library *doesn't* do that (don't have the space or whatever) I certainly hope they awt least turn around and donate the books to a school, Good Will, what have you. Taking books that were donated and throwing them out is positively asinine. Not that I would be surprised, of course. Grocery stores throw out all leftovers at the end of the day because legally they can't give them to homeless shelters and places like that. Awesome. |
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DSX
 Posts: 15 Location: Regina, SK |
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Not at all. A lot of the donations that come into a library are books that are outdated or damaged, and are essentially worthless. Many people attach an unrealistic value on them because they are "books", perceived to contain knowledge. They don't have the heart to throw them away, and so they donate them to the library. Generally what a given person will donate to the library are old cookbooks, college textbooks from 1977, Harlequins they picked up from a garage sale, etc. To keep collections fresh, librarians cull books all the time, which wind up for sale or recycled. Generally speaking, any books that are donated are probably less 'valuable' than what the library already contains. And, it's not like by recycling the paper, the library is denying knowledge to the masses. You can come in and check out any new book you want for free. There is the odd instance where a donated book finds its way into the collection. For all the donations that come in, a librarian will look through them to see if anything is a good fit for the library. In a way, though, we do perform a service by recycling those books that people don't have the heart to throw away themselves. I also know a lot of school librarians, and most of them don't want old books, either. Most children's books are well-loved (and used) by the time they hit the library anyway, and would be too damaged to go into circulation. |
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wandering-dreamer
 Posts: 1733 |
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That's actually what my library system does (I've spent the past four out of five summers volunteering there, the other summer I was actually working for one of the branch libraries) but even then it's technically run by a non-profit group that gives all the money to the library and sometimes we don't sell lots of books. And the kind of books that DSX listed sounds exactly like the kind of stuff we get, some weeks you get plenty of two or three year old thrillers in great condition and the next week you get 20 books about adoption. I did see a few anime DVDs for sale this year (and grabbed one for myself) and a single manga but around here if anyone has anything good they tend to sell it to the local used book store and we get what they won't take (plus, not sure if it's the same for DSX but we have to pay for all the books we recycle so we've had to get pickier about what we actually take or it costs us money in the end). |
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oriana3k
Posts: 94 |
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I've dropped manga in my library's donation bin before, and they've all wound up in their used bookstore. Heck, there are about 20 volumes of Dragon Ball in the store right now, and none on the library shelves, which baffles me. Isn't that series supposed to be insanely popular?
Anyway, I would happily donate tons of manga if I could be sure that they'd hang on to it instead of selling it off for 2 bucks a volume. |
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jennye
 Posts: 21 |
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On the topic of patron book donations, our system's Friends of the Library organization collects them all (minus the few that make it to the library shelves and the outdated textbooks, Reader's Digest Condensed Books, and too-ratty volumes that do end up in the recylced paper bin) and holds two ginourmous book sales every year. It's still "recycling" books, jut not in the usual way.
 They made enough off them last year to buy us a snazzy new book mobile! So for us, we think of book donations the way Captain Kirk does his gifted-pawned-and-gifted-again spectacles in Star Trek IV. 
Also, errinundra wrote:
Ooh, pretty. I don't have a region-free player at this time, but still.... *ogles* |
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Lyrai
Posts: 173 Location: Potatoes (Idaho) |
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A few years ago, I was pruning my manga collection since my shelves were packed full. (They still are, just with different series now.)
I packed all the manga up in two duffel bags, went to the local library and asked if I could donate them. The old lady behind the counter ended up screaming at me to get out of her library with my, quote, "Chinese Devil Bibles," which remains to this day the best term I have ever heard for manga. |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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The thing that always strikes me is that it's not just Watanabe. Otomo, Kawajiri, even Oshii (he did Sky Crawlers but that's about it in the last seven or eight years). Anno is doing the Eva reboots but nothing else and no actual new properties. Kon obviously passed away but even before that he hadn't done anything since paprika in 2006. Seems like a lot of those guys who made it big in the late 80s or 90s kinda dropped off the map about a half decade ago. I'm not sure if there's a reason for that or if it's just coincidence or what. I guess maybe they all have their own reasons.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Why do you even care? If you're donating something, donate it. Charity's charity. Maybe they feel like that stuff could be sold off to fund things the library needs more than a bunch of comic books, like upgrading their computers or adding weekend classes for kids or something. It's a library, not a museum for manga you used to want. |
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Echo_City
Posts: 1236 |
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To be succinct: If you're at episode 9 of Champloo and don't care for it, I predict you won't grow to like the characters and would be better off watching something else. Likewise if you relished the ending of Bebop, my odds are that you'll loathe Champloo's and are better off watching something else. My $0.02. On a similar topic, when is Sentai going to jump on the Hatchin title? It's only a better & longer version of their Canaan, and I'd pay to hear it dubbed. |
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oriana3k
Posts: 94 |
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Maybe my intent wasn't clear, but my feeling is that I'd like libraries to be places where people can access good series that are rare or out of print. I'd rather see them publicly available to many, instead of being traded around to various used bookstores. |
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jennye
Posts: 21 |
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Lyrai wrote:
*snort* That's the funniest thing I've heard all day! I'll have to remember that one. It's sad that you heard it from someone at your library, though. So wrong, so wrong. And yet so funny.... |
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eyeresist
 Posts: 995 Location: a 320x240 resolution igloo (Sydney) |
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Can I just remind whoever edits this column of the difference between "it's" and "its"? "It's" is short for "it is" (or "it has"). "Its" indicates possession, e.g. "the bird opened its beak." Please don't confuse the two; it really bugs me.
Books have ISBN numbers, on-going series have ISSN numbers. With manga, you should find the number on the cover, or inside in the publishing details (usually near the title page). I think I need to watch Alien Nine.... |
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jennye
Posts: 21 |
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Oriana3k wrote:
Trust me, we feel the same way! I don't know the situation in your particular library, but with ours, just as we have a limited budget, we also have limited shelf space (much as we all do at home). Something's got to give if we want to have a place to put the bins and bins of brand-new books--including shiny new manga--we process every day. Until someone develops pocket-dimension shelving (please!), we've no choice. We do what we can, but what we can't hold onto ourselves, we readily borrow from somewhere else. And if in the meantime someone gets a little joy, and we get a little cash, from a donated-then-sold book, then that's not so awful. And then we can put it towards another book or a new building...with more shelves.
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6523 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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I agree with much of what you are saying. Cowboy Bebop is more episodic than Samurai Champloo, but the difference isn't significant. Samurai Champloo is basically a buddy road movie over 26 episodes. The only thing tying it together is a vague quest to find the man who smells of sunflowers. Beyond that, it's basically diversion of the week. Now, I'm no huge fan of Cowboy Bebop - but to me Samurai Champloo has all its faults (in both instances there is very little below the surface) with few of its pluses. I've already mentioned Spike and Faye - I always enjoyed their company, so to speak. In comparison I found Mugen, Jin and Fuu uninteresting. Another essential element of Cowboy Bebop is the music. I believe that Yoko Kanno lifts the vibe of the show several notches. Samurai Champloo does not have that blessing. In fact, it is cursed with most miserably boring OP of any anime I can think of, something that never failed to start me off in the wrong frame of mind. Anyway, both shows depend upon their eccentric stylistic qualities for their appeal. In the end it comes down to whether that style suits the viewer's taste. For me, Cowboy Bebop did it moderately well; Samurai Champloo didn't. |
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1323 |
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Angel/Dust Neo is technically a 'sequel' manga to Angel/Dust, although Yuina only appears within the first couple pages, and in my opinion it isn't as good. While Angel/Dust had a beginning, middle and end, Neo had a beginning and then literally just stopped. And unlike Angel/Dust which was a little more unique, Neo was about to become another typical harem comedy with stereotypical characters. If you can get the first manga at all, seize the chance. |
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