Hoarding is not collection development
Retro Cool Bowling
Bowling
Burton
1973
Submitter: It is important for us to provide information on pastimes and hobbies for our students’ leisure time. Which is why this bowling book from 1973 is a great choice. There’s nothing kids today like better. Inexplicably, it has never circulated. Perhaps we should leave it on the shelf to give it a chance to find its audience?
Holly: I’m not sure why there are so many old bowling books hanging around in libraries. Every single one of them has groovy fashion and represents a time when bowling was the hip, cool thing to do. Or, at least, it must have been seeing as how so many titles were published on the subject in the early 70s. It’s fine to have bowling books, but represent the current decade, at least! Now they have cosmic bowling with black lights and automatic scoring. Sounds much cooler to me!
Strike or Spare?
Inside Bowling for Women
Sperber and Pezzano
1977
Submitter: Unsurprisingly, it has not left the library in over eight years. The lack of circulation, in addition to the dated fashion and language, made the decision to weed this book incredibly easy.
Holly: If I tried to do any of the exercises pictured on page 66 (below), I’d end up dropping a bowling ball on my face. Look, bowling is great, and bowling for women is wonderful, but keep it in the current decade, at least!
Bowl That Perfect Game
Better Bowling
Wilman
1953
Submitter: I love the look of this guy on the cover. So old school!
Holly: What is the deal with bowling books? By the time you’re weeding books from 1953 from the sports section, you’re so overdue for weeding that you’re going to end up with piles and piles and piles of discards. Then patrons are going to ask questions. Then reporters are going to ask questions. So just…stay on top of it and weed on an ongoing basis, or at least yearly. Not once every 60 years.