Plant libraries

[janemcgary]

There comes a time when many of us realize we have shelves of botanical and horticultural books and journals that we no longer use. I just filled 8 shopping bags with journals to give away, and still have AGS and SRGC journals going back to the late 1950s (no, I wasn't a member then!), too technical to appeal to local gardeners. A couple of years ago I offered books to PBS members and got rid of quite a few, but there are more in surplus. Now another PBS member is offering a choice selection, including many excellent bulb books, to our NARGS chapter. Do any of you have any good ideas how to keep these books out of the recycling bins? A PBS LX (literature exchange)?

[Martin Bohnet]

The beautiful thing about an LX would be that it actually can be done across the continents - the one thing that unites the whole bunch!

Low tech, low effort way would be a forum topic where everyone posts their Items and people can "order" by personal message- and everything that's taken can be striked out - no problem since everyone can edit their posts. If that's too chaotic we could make a sub-forum for that purpose.

[janemcgary]

I did my earlier give-away individually as Martin suggests, but not everyone would be willing to do the packing and posting, and sending books internationally can be very expensive (some of the people reimbursed me for postage). If there were enough interest, it might be better to centralize an LX and run it like a bookstore, with the coordinator paid a percentage of the prices, which should be kept very low. Some out-of-print plant books now sell for more than most of us can afford; check out Brian Mathew's "Crocus," which I'm glad I bought at publication time.

[Sylvia]

I was able to donate years of botanical journals to the library at the San Francisco Arboretum.   I also sold some runs to a book store in Minneapolis dealing in matters horticultural.  They would have been interested in books, as well, had I offered them.  I've tried the local junior college's horticultural library but without a librarian their collection is almost unusable for students although I think otherwise that could be a worthwhile destination.  Another donation possibility would be the libraries at local universities that have horticultural undergraduate and graduate programs.  And failing that, gardening friends and used book stores.  I never toss books!

Sylvia in Oakland, CA

[Robin Hansen]

Jane's idea about an LX would be terrific. There are books I want, but as she points out, new book prices are very high. I only buy new books when I must absolutely have them. Donating to the local library is not an option as many have found out. I received several books as a result of Jane's first library cleanout and I am using them as reference because it's all there is on that genus or new books are too expensive or can't be found.

There is Andersen Horticultural Library in Chaska, Minnesota (suburb of Minneapolis or thereabouts?) who wants my printed catalog for their archives every year. I don't have an email although I'm sure you can find one, but the phone is 952-443-1405. It's always better to speak to a human anyway.

[David Pilling]

Might an LX consist of a board on this forum in which people describe what they've got and how to get it - all of Google-land will see it is available.

[Robin Hansen]

I think I'd be a bit wary of announcing to the world. For some possible reasons: Dealers taking advantage of members, members who may not use PayPal having to deal with payments, and huge shipping costs, opening members to more junk mail or spam, and so on.

I would say trying it among members and limiting who orders to plant society members such as NARGS, SRGC, etc. although I don't know how practical that would be in execution, but certainly limiting to PBS, if nothing else.

[David Pilling]

Always best to look at things from the fraud angle - putting people in touch with others is a risk. Maybe a column in the back of The Bulb Garden journal then.

Does depend on the value, there are botanical publications people go to the trouble of cutting illustrations from and smuggling out of libraries. OTOH I once watched bound copies of the leading journal in my subject, less than 20 years old being taken from the University library and thrown in the back of a truck to be taken to the rubbish dump.

[janemcgary]

Now that so many journals are available online, libraries don't like to keep them on the shelves. I wish I could place all the rock garden journals (NARGS, SRGC, AGS, etc.) with someone who will profit from them. I'm reading through them again and it's wonderful to discover information that is useful to me right now. Some years ago I put together, for NARGS, a book called "Rock garden plants of North America," which includes articles from about 50 years of their journal; it's out of print now but I think it took many people on enjoyable plant hikes. The two other Timber Press volumes I edited for NARGS contain purpose-written chapters.

[Robin Hansen]

Rock Garden Plants of North America I still use it as a reference. Books like this really don't become outdated. I, too, spend time rereading my NARGS, SRGC and AGS journals and sometimes discovering I missed something important. Books moldering in libraries may seem quaint and out-of-date, but as the future goes, we have no guarantee we'll continue to have the internet in accessible form.

Think sun flares, satellite destruction, Mother Nature's habit of torrential rain, monster slides, flooding, etc. Then think of all the tablets on clay from thousands of years ago that scientists have found and deciphered...

[David Pilling]

Robin, I believe the journals you mention (AGS, SRGC etc) are available on disc (and online) - searching would be easier than paper.

"It's only backed up, when it's printed on paper" does not work with the internet.

The library of Alexandria burned down but people's shopping lists on clay tablets survive. A pattern which is repeated every day with the 'net.

If the internet goes down, rock gardening will not be the problem.

[Martin Bohnet]

Well if we really don't want google bots to see what's there (they do see the SX/BX/EX - any trouble there?) we kann have a sub-forum only visible for registered members.

[Robin Hansen]

In reply to both David and Martin...

David- the thing about paper is that you see context much easier, have various search terms right in front of you (I really wear out trying to decide which words to use in a search sometimes and then find I'm totally off-base or can't find anything when I know there's something there) and in looking through paper you will often come across something you've been wanting to find. Each option has their advantages.

I'm not ignoring Alexandria Library Syndrome, just taking an optimistic attitude...and truly, if the net goes down, it could be bad, good, ugly or a steep relearning curve. There are always, in my book, options but I realize the vast majority of people are getting lazier.

Martin, since we all have to log in to access member services, I think we'd be safe within those restrictions.

[janemcgary]

I just noticed that NARGS has reopened, in a sense, their bookstore, being run by a volunteer who is selling off (at very low prices) books that were in someone's "storage shed" (I think I know who--and some of those were in my basement, before I moved to a house without a basement). I wrote to ask if he would take donations but haven't heard back.