The neighborhoods of Oakland and Berkeley I walk around in have these everywhere. I always stop to take a peek and have never once seen a book I would actually take. It’s just a bunch of dross – random self-help books from unknown authors, romance novels, a gluten-free cookbook from 1992, etc. Further I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen someone walk away from a LFL with a book in their hands.
I think the disconnect for me is that LFL owners seem to think every book has value, when in fact most are valueless. Every year over 500,000 books are published in English, not counting self-published. Libraries know most have no value – they have to get rid of large numbers of them to make room for new releases, but they have to dispose of them under cover of night since nothing gets the mob inflamed like a library patron discovering a dumpster full of books. Reading has tremendous value, but individual books often don’t. For many it seems a cargo cult has sprung up around the physical objects of books, even books no one actually wants to read. And these are the ones that end up in LFL’s.
by Bookandaglassofwine
1 Comment
I put good books in them, and puzzles and they are gone and I never see them again. I think they get snatched up and kept