Fw: H-ASIA: Reducing a personal library - East Asian subjects (comment)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Conlon" <conlon@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
To: <H-ASIA@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2011 5:35 PM
Subject: H-ASIA: Reducing a personal library - East Asian subjects (comment)

> H-ASIA
> January 3, 2011
>
> Comment re: posting on reducing a personal library - East Asian subjects
> ************************************************************************
> From: Ian Welch <ian.welch@anu.edu.au>
>
> With reference to Brian McKnight's posting--
>
> This rings a sad bell. Trying to dispose of books, often costing thousands
> of dollars over the years, is becoming a nightmare especially when adding
> postage costs for disposal to anyone interested. It has accelerated in
> difficulty in recent years with increasingly restrictive collection
> policies of libraries, often forced by costs/staffing, on accepting
> donations.
>
>
> It has been magnified, at least in my case, by finding many books that I
> have purchased, usually from the US & UK at considerable cost and
> previously unavailable in Australia, are close to worthless in the local
> market which is not easy going in obsessed field of missionary history.
> The going rate in Canberra is around $5 a volume (if selected)
> irrespective of original purchase price. I had intended to give my
> collection to a theological college with a singularly bad missionary
> collection but the first donation was managed so poorly that I despaired
> especially when I found they had a deal with a bookseller to take surplus
> items and pay a pittance to the college, without reference, I should add,
> to the original donors.
>
>
> Add to all that the increasing (and welcome to be fair) coverage of 19C
> works in digitised form and I am gloomy about the future of my library, as
> no doubt Prof McKnight understands. I am sure this is a widespread issue
> around the world.
>
> As we start 2011 with the anticipated flood of retirements of academics of
> the older generation, I imagine this forum will be hearing more and more
> of such tales of woe.
>
>
> Ian Welch. Canberra,
> aka as the antipodean bookworm.
> Happy New Year to You-all.
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