By Kathy Pillatzki
Assistant Director
Henry County Library System 

  The fun side of my job involves selecting and purchasing books for our libraries. The flip side is a bit of drudgery called weeding: when a book is outdated, ragged, or just not circulating, it has to be retired to make room for something newer and better. Out with the old, in with the new.

  Remember a few years back when a team of distinguished scientists determined that Pluto was no longer a planet? In that instant, every library book about the solar system became obsolete. They had to  be removed and replaced with something current. We ran into similar challenges when East and West Germany reunited, and again when the Soviet Union broke up.

  Drastic changes like that are uncommon, but the collection does have to be assessed routinely. Recently we ran some reports to identify books that haven’t circulated much in the past five years. These “shelf-sitters” may be obsolete, in poor condition, or simply missing.

Once in a while, though, we come across an interesting book in good shape and think, “If people knew we had this, they’d check it out.” Below are a few of these “orphan books” from the general knowledge section for your consideration. Check one out next time you visit the library!

  An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned but Probably Didn’t, by Judy Jones. Don’t be intimidated; most of the “things” are just a paragraph or so long. Plus, you don’t have to read the whole thing start to finish; it’s great for browsing. It’s a perfect choice whether you want to fill in the gaps from the times you dozed off in class, or just need a refresher on things you once knew but have grown fuzzy on the details.

  We Interrupt This Broadcast, by Joe Garner. Cast your mind back – way back – to a time when radio was the primary news source for most Americans. Garner has compiled CDs of actual radio broadcasts announcing major events of the 20th century, including the Hindenburg disaster, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the first moonwalk. The accompanying book includes photographs and background information on each entry. Proof that history doesn’t have to be dull; this would be great for classroom use with students who can’t imagine life before the Internet.

  The National Archives of the United States, by Herman Viola. This a look at the types of materials housed in the Archives, including photographs of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation. This would be a good choice for browsing or for homework assignments.

  A Picture Tour of the Smithsonian, published by the Smithsonian Institution. This work highlights the variety and character of the Smithsonian through photo essays on the 13 museums and the zoo.

  A Treasury of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, edited by Clifton Fadiman. So you don’t have time to read all 32,000-plus pages of the Encyclopaedia? Browse this instead, a compilation of the best gems from the past two centuries.

  Book trivia of the week: Someone did read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica cover to cover, and naturally he wrote a book about it. The Know-It-All by AJ Jacobs is a surprisingly funny account of his quest and its myriad effects on his personal life.

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