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Decision to pulp books goes against all NLB stands for

As a librarian in an academic library and a book lover, I am saddened and flabbergasted by the National Library Board’s (NLB) decision not to give away or sell the books that were pulled from circulation.

As a librarian in an academic library and a book lover, I am saddened and flabbergasted by the National Library Board’s (NLB) decision not to give away or sell the books that were pulled from circulation.

While one can debate the merits and the mistakes when the NLB chose to remove the books, the choice to pulp these books, which people have offered to take, is unforgivable.

Firstly, that decision is an act of symbolic violence against knowledge. The action tramples on the sacred idea of striving to create knowledge to benefit society.

To pulp the books is to belittle the idea of sharing knowledge.

Secondly, the NLB is the legal depository of all locally published magazines, books and journals.

It has the moral and legal obligation to preserve and share these publications and the information contained therein.

The decision to pulp the books, which are not banned, goes against everything NLB stands for as a legal depository.

Lastly, to destroy these books, even though they are in good condition, shows a disregard for the public funds that were used to buy them.

Hence, they should be sold or given away to people willing to take them, or placed on a restricted shelf for only adults to borrow.

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