Monday, July 6, 2009

451...Books, Who Needs Stinking Books

Not Library and Archives Canada.

They get in the way.

The books do.

Clutter and all that.

The Ottawa Citizen ran a story yesterday that stated that a moratorium on buying new materials at Library and Archives Canada has some people wondering whether important cultural and historical documents could be lost to the country.

On May 19, an e-mail went out informing of an immediate halt to paid acquisitions "It's just not done. It's just silly. It's like cutting the oxygen off," said Michel Brisebois, former curator of rare books at Library and Archives. "That's not acceptable for a national library."

What do you really mean Michel?

Liam McGahern, of Patrick McGahern Books in Ottawa, said important pieces of Canadian social history find their way into booksellers' stores and there are other collectors in the world who will snap up interesting Canadian artifacts and books if Canada does not. "Cultural items will be lost to the Canadiana collection. The cultural world doesn't wait for Library and Archives Canada."

Library and Archives declined to comment Friday.

WFDS

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