Detractors are keeping a watchful eye on a new round of discarding being undertaken by San Francisco Public Library, where officials are cautiously planning to get rid of up to 150,000 weeded books now being stored in the bowels of a Civic Center building.
In the February 9 San Francisco Chronicle, Roberto Esteves, SFPL chief of information and resource management, said only books damaged beyond repair would be thrown out. He said he has formed a committee to help decide, among other things, if any of the stored books should be reshelved. He has also drafted a plan to donate some to community groups.
SFPL has been under fire for its discarding practices since 1996, when it was revealed that thousands of volumes had been hastily dumped to accommodate the Main Library's move to its new facility.
Posted February 15, 1999.