preserving books is not cheap. most private collections will end up destroyed, because their value is unknown and the cost to even evaluate what is worth prese

preserving books is not cheap. most private collections will end up destroyed, because their value is unknown and the cost to even evaluate what is worth preserving exceeds the value of the books themselves. just the other day i heard the story of a private collector leaving 75,000 books behind, that the heirs can't even afford to dispose of, let alone preserve. there is no complete catalogue, if there is one at all, and most certainly not a digital catalogue. they will most likely end up being permanently destroyed in paper recycling, if they keep the house. otherwise it will be cheaper to just tear the house down with the books still inside. so in the end the only books being preserved will be libraries as long as those are being funded. for less popular titles that means just a few copies of each book. and those that can be digitized before they are being destroyed. beyond that what will survive are at best maybe a few private libraries that are on privately owned properties owned by a family that cares. with that in mind it would actually be an interesting question how to bury books with minimal effort so that they have at least some chance to survive