Contingency Cannibalism: Superhardcore Survivalism’s Dirty Little Secret
Takada
1999
Submitter: This was found in the survival and wilderness section of our little library. At first I was surprised by the title, then I was even more surprised when I realized it was misclassified. This probably would have done better in the humor section.
Holly: What the….ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Good grief. The summary at WorldCat is priceless.
Blindsided: Planet X passes in 2033: Earthchanges!
Hazlewood
(2nd Ed.) 2001
Submitter: This amazing conspiracy rant explains how the media, all the governments (except Putin’s Russia) and society in general suppress the truth that Planet X is coming to destroy civilization in 2003. (Oh wait…). Cited sources include news articles and prophecies by, amongst others, Mother Shipton, Edgar Cayce and various conspiracy theorists. Buy this book so you can survive what was coming in 2003! Small public library in Florida, found shelved in 550 with Space Science.
Holly: We dodged that bullet, I guess.
Mass Media and Elections
Joslyn
1984
If there was ever a book that was outdated, I think this one might be in the top 10. Aside from the craziness of campaigns, the choice of candidates, and fake news, this book is missing a whole chunk of information.
Updates should probably include things like social media, the Internet, and for the American audience: Russian interference, conspiracy theories, false identities, massive voter fraud, mail in voting, fake news, and a whole chapter on Fox news.
If I’m God’s Handiwork, Would Someone Please Explain These Thighs!: Discovering Your Unique Destiny
Lechner
2002
Submitter: I work at a public library in a small city in NC. We found this book from 2002 during a recent sweep. I think it’s a good example for your blog because of the outdated humor both in the title and within the work, as well as the outdated design of the cover and call outs within. The book never had particularly good circulation numbers and probably should have been weeded a decade ago.
Holly: I know it doesn’t seem like that long ago, but 2002 was 21 years ago. Let it gooooo!
Hunger: Understanding the Crisis Through Games, Dramas, and Songs
Sprinkle
1971
Submitter: This is a book of literal Hunger Games by an author whose last name is Sprinkle. You just can’t make this up. The idea of the book is to help church-goers and likeminded folks better understand the experience of hungry people. There are bingo games for kids, as well as the attached activities. I find the drama interesting; Jane, the “active churchwoman” actually tells the long-haired young man to cut his hair to find a job. Spoiler, she dies at the end, goes to heaven, and gets a bread crust, an empty jar, and an old bathrobe. There’s also a song called “We plough the fields with tractors.”
Weeded from an academic library. Last circulation: ILL in 1987. Browsed in 1993. Not applicable to any academic program at the university… and probably not of lasting interest for students, faculty, or staff, either.
Holly: What does listing on a placemat what Jesus ate (second image below) have to do with learning about people who have nothing to eat?
How to profit from the coming rapture
Getting ahead when you are left behind
Levy
2008
I was searching for something and came across this book. My first thought was this was a serious effort by some religious nuts. When I started reading and laughing, it was clear it was a spoof.
It was actually fun for about a half an hour. Then it was done, at least for me. Sometimes books like these tend to be too long. The joke just went on too long. What concerned me is the owning library had it classified in the 200s. I would have stuck this in the 800s with other humor books.
Early Pleasures and Pastimes
Kalman
1947
Submitter: We found this gem in our Children’s department of our public library, on a recent much needed weed. The children on the cover seem to enjoy waterboarding Grandpa. The actual photos inside are very disturbing. They dare you to wrestle a bear, and how about the crying little girl watching her beloved turkey get it’s head chopped off. I don’t understand why we had this one on the shelves for so long!
Holly: None of these are pleasures or appropriate pastimes for children! Pretty sure Grandpa is bobbing for apples. He doesn’t seem to be very good at it, though.
Carpentry for Children
Walker
1982
My general rule of thumb for kids nonfiction is that it shouldn’t be older than the age of the kid. Please don’t write us about all your examples of the exceptions. I get it. There are probably thousands of exceptions. But I digress…
This book was brought to me by one of my co-workers. Topic is fine, but this particular book was old and tired looking. (As I am old and tired looking, I feel qualified to judge.)
In this example, the date published makes me question the following:
Again, I am not saying that just because it’s old, doesn’t make it an automatic weed, however it does mean we need to check further.
