Medical Book Library
Libraries are faced every year with the tough decision of discarding medical books. If a medical book contains information that is considered to be obsolete and no longer useful, should a library discard the medical book? It is a decision that effects the flow of accurate informational research. While this question may be quite controversial, there are many reasons why discarding the medical books is an easy decision. Libraries face many problems with housekeeping and upkeep and the majority of large libraries simply do not have enough room to indefinitely hold older medical books. Although it may be tough to throw away medical books donated to the library or purchased for a large sum, it is usually necessary.
Many librarians are familiar with the saying, “Let no book remain on the shelves unless someone fights to keep it there.” If this were held into consideration when it comes time to make extra space for updated medical books, then libraries would find themselves keeping all of their medical book content. This is simply not plausible though. Although libraries see every gift and purchase as a precious asset, especially with their tight budgets, many books continue to go unused. All information is vital to a library, but the information contained must be controlled in an effective manner, especially for medical books. For example, because of the every-changing advances in scientific knowledge, a medical book can become obsolete within months.
Before a library discards a medical book, it must put many notions into consideration to ensure that it is a proper decision. If a medical book contains a significant amount of historical material and information not found elsewhere in a library, it may consider keeping it. A library may also discard a book if it is certain that it can borrow the book from another nearby library. Also, if a medical book was referred to in the past, the library should take this into account before getting rid of it.
In addition, a library should ask the question “Is there a reason for us to keep sets of medical books, regardless of their accuracy or amount of usage?” Larger libraries may serve a large amount of people and may consider keeping all of its medical books in its archives or in an place that is easily retrievable. Smaller libraries have no need and no means to keep outdated material because they do not serve a large enough amount of people and they have insufficient space.
Library Study:
Based on a study of several libraries, a large number keep every edition of medical books or keep one set in each subject field while discarding the others. Many libraries choose to discard all older edition medical books or transfer them to “dead storage” if they have means of doing so. A small portion of libraries choose to keep everything, regardless of the quality or condition of the medical books and they are not permitted to discard anything.
Based on findings, it is ideal for a library that serves a large region to keep the first and last edition of each medical book set. For smaller libraries, there is no justification for them to keep sets that will only be used once or twice within a few years.
