Marriage Insurance
Ward
1955

Submitter: I work in the library of a small religious college.  Before about 5 years ago, no real weeding had taken place since the library opened.  It is taking time, but we are making our way through the collection and finding some crazy stuff.  In today’s edition of Crazy Old Books that for Some Reason Were Still in Our Collection we have a real winner.  According to this book, “Death stalks your marriage from the moment the preacher says, ‘I now pronounce you man and wife.’”  Here is a brief list of some of the enemies of marriage (the capital letters and italics are the author’s emphasis, not mine):

1.       “THE NEW STYLE OF AN AMERICAN LIVING ROOM – CENTERED AROUND A BAR AND TELEVISION SET.  This turns the family living room into a replication of the commercial cocktail lounge.”

2.       Liquor

3.       “The screens of the nation, whether in the home or the picture show carry a lot of smut.”

4.       “Then there is the problem of the sexy song.  Lewd songs that formerly were confined to the barracks or the gutter are becoming top favorites on the Hit Parade.”

5.       “EASY DIVORCE LAWS AND THE NEW ATTITUDE TOWARD PROMISCUITY AND SEX.”

6.       “THE MENTAL CRACK UP AND SUICIDE”

7.       Red China – “Fifty factories throughout the Red-ruled mainland are turning out narcotics for use in Peiping’s “dope war” against the West.”  “Communism is an enemy to your marriage.”

8.       “DESERTION – FOLK JUST WALK OUT ON ONE ANOTHER AND ABANDON THEIR CHILDREN.”

Luckily, there is a solution to all of this mayhem: “The unqualified answer is THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HABIT…THE ANSWER TO BROKEN HOMES…JUVENILE DELINQUENCY…AND LOW LEVEL OF MORALITY.”

And then they close with a story about a junior delinquent named Arnold who stole barrels to have a bonfire with his gang, threatened to fight the constable when they were caught, and was dragged home to his mother.  The story ends with this note: “(Young Arnold’s first name was Benedict.)”

The moral of this story is that if you have a television in your living room you will have children who fight constables and betray the county, probably to Red China.

Holly: Wow, my hubs and I are pretty much screwed.  We brew beer at home, watch a LOT of tv, and crank up the heavy metal music! And here I thought we had 16 years of wedded bliss…

Callous Disregard: Autism and Vaccines – the Truth Behind a Tragedy
Wakefield
2010

Submitter: I am a circulation clerk at a public library, and I have a question for you: “what makes an awful library book?” I would personally say any non-fiction books that were inaccurate, outdated or contained hate speech would be deemed “awful.” So imagine my surprise and disgust when I saw this garbage sitting on the new book display shelf.

If you don’t know, Wakefield’s so-called findings that linked childhood vaccines to autism have since been debunked, and Wakefield is no longer a licensed physician. The data was falsified, and there is zero evidence to suggest that vaccines cause autism. Period. So what is this book doing in my library, catalogued under the “Medical Sciences” banner, no less? To me, this is outdated and inaccurate medical information, and dangerous to boot! I know that the role of a public library is to represent a wide range of knowledge and opinion, but how far should that range go?

Holly:Every now and then we like to post a good ethical discussion question.  We try to be funny and lighthearted most of the time, but at the same time try to get people to think about collection quality. Librarians, please weigh in on this!

The Miller Lite Report on American Attitudes towards Sports 1983

Miller Brewing Company

1983

Submitter: I have an awful library book for you: a 1983 survey commissioned and published by Miller Lite regarding American attitudes towards sports. Now, this is awful primarily due to its age, but it is also very scientific, and not really written for a public library audience. Additionally, Miller makes a point of stating at the beginning that “few companies can claim such a close association with the world of sports and its millions of fans;” making their intent in gathering this data pretty evident: they want to sell us more beer!

Holly: The cover looks horrible.  Condition counts, folks!  I wonder how this ended up in the public library in which it was found?  More importantly, why did it stay there for 29 years?! My last question is, why is it on pink paper?  In 1983, Miller’s target market for beer and sports was men, and at that time pink was definitely NOT manly.

The Major and the Librarian
Benjamin
1999

Shy librarian Emma Dalton craves stability in her life.  Can she make it work with the handsome Major Sam Griffin? I gotta tell you I am a sucker for a romance featuring any librarian.  We post a lot here and my favorites tend to be the more aggressive of our species, not the “shy” stereotype.  (To be honest, I don’t know too many “shy” types in public library service since that kind of personality type would probably kill you on the job.  Being shy won’t settle down a bunch of teens, break up fights or handle your average crazy person.)

When when we got our hands on this book, I read some of the comments on Amazon and my particular favorite quote is here for your enjoyment.

“The Major is obviously an embodiment of the modern industrial military complex, who has a few complexes of his own. The Librarian represents the faltering non-profit co-operative forces of the modern world — forces which are feeling unloved and unsupported but continue to give and give and hate themselves for secretly wishing for capital and attention to come and sweep their troubles away.”

Click here to read the complete review on Amazon.

Enjoy!

Mary

Other Librarian Romances:

Librarians Secret Wish

The Librarian’s Secret Scandal

Master’s Mistress

Wild and Crazy Librarian!

Lightning that Lingers

The Child Abuse Help Book
How to understand and cope with violence in the home
Haskins
1982

I plucked this from a teen nonfiction collection.  Both the cover art and title are disturbing.  For a brief moment, I thought this title was a “how-to” type book.  I think this book is typical of those social topic oriented titles that are used for a school paper.  Resources and advice are limited.  For Michigan, there is a government  address in Lansing you can write for “information” that I am quite certain is out of date. I have included some sample pages and I will let you draw your own conclusions on the value for student research.

The one positive this author did say is that the public library is a source of information on coping with child abuse situations. Too bad it is not this particular book. Let this be one of those posts that reminds you to go weed the 300s, especially in teens/youth.

Mary

Try some of these related posts:

A Great Choice for a Parenting Collection

Watch out for bad boyfriends

Soap Opera Babylon
Bonderoff
1987

As soaps fade in popularity, is there much call for this kind of material? Most of the fans I talk to are more interested in the story line of the show, however this particular title would appeal to those attracted to the gossipy inside story.  This is still the days of Dallas and Dynasty and I am not sure if it is any big surprise who is dissing who behind the scenes.  I also think everyone knows who shot JR and that Bobby’s dream was a giant mistake, so story line scoops aren’t going to be that big of a sell nowadays.  I would love a “where are they now” title though for my collection. I didn’t watch Dynasty so I will leave it to the comments for the Joan vs. Diahann vs. Linda discussion. (Hint: the shoulder pads win.)

Mary

Other soap posts:

As the collection world turns…

Soapy Fun

Twenty-Eight Days
Elgin and Osterritter
1973

Another helpful period book. My first thought was that movie about a virus called 28 Days Later. Coincidence?

I am embarrassed for the library that still has it on the shelves (at least as of this writing). I pity a girl that has to depend on this old book.  The illustrations are bizarre. (I thought the first picture was of sunglasses. Whoops!) As a woman of a certain age, I can also say that I have never heard of any of the “modern” myths. In 1973, I was busy being a boring junior high student in the middle of Illinois– hardly on the cutting edge of popular culture. I think avoiding wet feet and chills is probably good advice regardless of how your lady parts are acting.

I am also pretty sure my younger self would have thought this was a waste of a good tree.

Mary

More Periodic Posts!

The Curse

Cursed Again!

Peter Max on Becoming a Woman

PMS is Making You Crazy

Woman’s Body
An Owner’s Manual
1977

This is a nice relic from the 1970s.  I was sure this paperback that found its way into our donation pile would be too old or crusty to still be on a public library shelf, but I was wrong.  As of this writing, WorldCat showed a bunch of holdings in public libraries. Shame!

In 1977, I am sure this was considered a good purchase.  Women’s health issues were just starting to become front and center. The first book that really addressed this was Our Bodies, Ourselves, published in 1971.  I remember Our Bodies, Ourselves being quite the controversial title.  The feminism was clear, but I think the real controversy of this book encouraged women to actually question and challenge the doctors about treatment and options and many old time doctors did not appreciate having to explain themselves. Ah, the good old days when doctors knew everything and told women “they knew better”.

Mary

Internet Connections: A Librarian’s Guide to Dial-Up Access and Use
Engle, Lutz, Jones and Engel
1993

Ah, the professional collection. Maybe we weed for the public, but doesn’t anyone check the backroom or professional shelves every now and then? What was a great book and forward thinking in 1993, is not current practice. Librarians should be even more vigilant with their own professional material. I should also make a comment that it also helps if we actually READ some of  the professional literature out there.  Let’s set a standard, please!

By the way, when I looked this up on Amazon and read a comment/review, I about flipped.  Double checked the date this supposed librarian/staffer posted her review/comment–it was 2011.  Read and then please tell me tell me who in 2011 doesn’t know that dial up slower than broadband, not too mention all of the other problems with this comment. I weep for our profession sometimes….

Mary

Shameless Plug: If you are looking to read something professional try our book:  Making a Collection Count:  A Holistic Approach  to Library Collection Management.   Hurry, since I know we will need to update this book before too long.

Sportsmanlike Driving
9th ed
American Automobile Association
1987

Here’s another one of those titles that was great for its time, but its time has passed.  It doesn’t mention hybrid cars, and there is no scenario for someone texting while driving (“What will you do?”).  The career information could be updated, and the pictures are definitely from the 1980s.  There might be some good information in it, but that does not make it relevant for libraries.  We have to consider the whole package when weeding!

Holly

Other Driving Posts:

Auto Repair: Keep or Weed?

Baby, you can drive my car…

And one of our personal favorites from the 1950s: Motor City Special