[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: On-line auctions



In discussion of the question of deaccessioning generally, we had an incident a few years ago where a local library that is literally bursting at the gills in its 100+ year old building decided to deaccession some materials from the genealogy room. These were mostly published books. They offered them to several historical societies in the area, and I believe eventually sent what wasn't taken to a local auction house.

Unfortunately, there was a PR snafu in this, and people got the impression that the library was wildly getting rid of all of its genealogy collection (at some point the rumor gained the "fact" that the library was doing this to earn money, although I doubt they got much at the auction house).

This happened right before a major local history seminar, and was one of the main topics of conversation there, so got massive coverage in the local paper. The library had to hold several public information sessions to try to explain what was going on. Unfortunately, some of the tone of these actually served to fan the flames. It didn't help that in following its criteria for keeping only materials relating to Dutchess and surrounding counties, the library got rid of some standard genealogical works like Burke's Peerage, etc. I talked to several people who said that they had used a book one day, and gone to the library the next day and found it gone. The dean of local historians, then about 93 years old, had, according to his wife, left his massive local history files to the library, but on account of this, was going to change his will and leave them to someone else (I didn't hear, after he died, who actually got the files--no one seemed to know, and it occurs to me that his wife died recently, so I should ask around again).

The moral of this is, if you deaccession, be careful how you do it, or you could cause a major public relations disaster, including the possibility of people changing their minds about making donations to you.







Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer
Special Collections Librarian/Archivist

Culinary Institute of America
1946 Campus Drive
Hyde Park, NY  12538
(845) 451-1757
c_crawfo@culinary.edu

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>