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Virtue signaling goes both ways. Yes, there's plenty of middle class progressive virtue signaling in having a little free library, but there's also plenty in ba
by beat 8y ago
Virtue signaling goes both ways. Yes, there's plenty of middle class progressive virtue signaling in having a little free library, but there's also plenty in bashing them as a threat to the public library system. Progressiver-than-thou is a seriously annoying thing.
My own gripe against them isn't the virtue signaling, but rather the KonMari problem. People who read tend to treat books as sacred. Throwing books out is a sin, even if the books are, frankly, junk. I live in one of those neighborhoods they describe, with a little free library or two on every block, and they are often stuffed with garbage books that someone couldn't bear to throw out - old Danielle Steele and Steven King novels, obsolete computer books, etc. It's okay to throw books out, it really is. The magic isn't in the book, it's in the reading.
That said, there are other ways to do Good Work with books besides little free libraries and the public library system. My spouse works with a nonprofit that distributes books for underprivileged children. Every time she buys something on Amazon, she also buys a children's book - exclusively books that feature non-white characters. Her goal isn't just to get books in the hands of poor children, but to get minority kids images that look like themselves, and get the white kids images that look like someone else.
- Tomte 8y agoI've finally come around to think that it's okay to throw books into paper collection. It feels wrong, viscerally. You do it hoping nobody is watching you. But that feeling is stupid. It's ecologically okay to recycle paper, and the books you're throwing away aren't one-of-a-kind. You're not depriving anyone of the book, they can lend it from a library or buy it themselves.
- beat 8y agoRight. Especially mass-market paperback fiction and the like. If the book is rare, or has deep sentimental value, keep it or pass it on to someone who will enjoy it. But "because I may read it (or read it again) someday" is not a good reason to keep them. And not every book needs to be donated or resold. If you don't want it, chances are very few others want it either.
- JohnFen 8y ago> If you don't want it, chances are very few others want it either. I don't think this is a good benchmark at all. It's a natural human tendency to think that we each are representative of "most people", but that's very often not actually true. I prefer to donate unwanted books to the library, thrift shop, or used book store. Those organizations are in a better place to judge what most people want and what they don't.
- Tomte 8y agoMy experience is "if I wanted it, nobody else will". Lisp in Small Pieces. Sure, here on HN many people would be interested in it. In a smallish town, even though there's a technical branch of a nearby university? Forget about it. English books? The library isn't interested (for good reason, they have limited shelf-space and very little demand for English books, there are two shelfs of English fiction and that's it). And even university libraries. I once asked them to buy Compiling with Continuations by Apple. A real classic. No, they won't. Too old, they won't spend money on that. Especially since it's available in several libraries throughout Germany. I am certain they would have zero interest in most of the computer science and programming books on my shelf.
- JohnFen 8y agoOne of the very nice things that libraries (both public and university) can do is to make use of the interlibrary loan system. A surprising number of people don't know this exists. Through it, you can borrow books from any library that is part of the system, which is almost all of them -- so even very specialized or obscure books that your local library won't carry can be ordered through them for borrowing.
- daly 8y agoI have Appel's book. I love the fact that I can get very expensive books "second hand". The same information without the high cost. Appel doesn't get paid but I know from my experience with publishers that tech books almost never make money. 3000 copies puts a book in the top 1%. Carnegie Mellon teaches a compiler course using continuations so I'm not sure what's "old" about it.
- fedorareis 8y agoPersonally my solution to this is either giving the books to a thrift store or donating it to the library. Then it at least has a chance of finding a new owner, but if not they can decide to recycle it.
- Tomte 8y agoAnother solution is trying companies buying old media. I finally got rid of Lisp in Small Pieces, which I would never have worked through anyway and some other comparable book I cannot remember for double-digit Euros! It's hit-and-miss, though. I see no rhyme and reason in which books they're interested in, and the prices. Just the day before yesterday I took some cooking books in pristine condition to the library. They used to have a book-swapping box outside. It was gone. I went in (not too thrilled with the prospect of lugging it all back home) and asked about it. No, they don't have it anymore. I can put my books in the "free section" inside. I did that, the librarian walked by to take a look and snatched the books away. "They are good, I'll see whether we can use them for the library. Usually we only get books we throw away immediately."
- daly 8y agoLisp in Small PIeces is one of the best books I've ever read. Besides being a deep reach into programming decisions it is one of the best examples of a literate program. By "getting ride of it" I assume you put it into a glass case on your office wall. I admit it does deserve such a place of pride.
- checkyoursudo 8y agoI just donated 200+ books. They were ecstatic to receive them. It's a reasonably good way to go. Plus, what they don't want or won't sell, then they can decide what to do with so that I'm not a book murderer. My book conscience is clean.
- Gibbon1 8y agoSeems to me you could take the trash Danielle Steele novels home and throw them out.
- craigzucchini 8y ago"Listen, I hate virtue signalling as much as the next guy, but have I told you about how I'm using book giving as a vehicle to dismantle racism by proxy of my spouse?" I don't think you could have made this point any better.
- beat 8y agoTruth. That said, I'm not calling for the abolition of either public libraries or little free libraries. I'm just saying we need to be clear about our goals when we do things (especially social justice things). If the goal is "put more books in the hands of poor kids" as an act of personal charity, then there are better ways to do it. Hence the example of my spouse. There's a lot of intellectual dishonesty in the virtue-signaling claims of those in the article. It's not the virtue signaling itself that's the problem, it's being dishonest about the motivations of others for selfish aims. Why do people put up LFLs? To share something they love. To decorate their yards. As a statement of culture for themselves and their neighborhood. Dismissing it as "virtue signaling" is deliberately derogatory. And this sort of argument is rife in the social justice movement in general. As someone who wears the "social justice warrior" label proudly, I'm not fond of the warriors who prefer circular firing squads.
- wowFuckYou 8y agoand get the white kids images that look like someone else. I guess no one has ever told you that you're a total racist.
- kilo_bravo_3 8y agoVirtue signaling is a made up nonsense phrase. Originally an obscure descriptor confined to anthropology, it entered the mainstream via its use by self-righteous political and social commentators as a way of denigrating the thoughts, words, and/or actions of anyone whose opinions ran counter to their own. By some of its many, constantly shifting, definitions using the phrase is an example of the phrase itself. People who use it should be treated with the same level of incredulity that someone who uses the phrase "genetic terminator" when discussing vaccines deserves.
- profreez 8y agoI agree with your point and I think that what your wife does is impressive and a thousand times better than a little free library. However, I don't think that there is anything wrong with placing books that you no longer want in public place and exchange them with another book. It's not the idea of little free libraries that's problematic, but the execution. I was living in a small French town from 2013 until 2015 and there was something similar to a little free library on one of the main downtown plazas. Old and young people from all demographic and socio-economic backgrounds seemed to be participating, taking and leaving books. I really loved it and I think it's a pity that over here, the little free libraries are only to be found in privileged neighborhoods.