Conditions of Used Books

• Thinking Library!
  Carole Stanger
  February 6, 2010
  
  New Books Upstairs @ the library!
  Breaking the Rules by Barbara Taylor Bradford
  Wolf at the Door by Jack Higgins
  Kisser by Stuart Woods
  Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
  Financial Planning for your First Job
  Island Intrigue by Marty Ambrose
  Italian Vintage by Lynn M. Turner
  
  Coming Events @ the Library!
  Library Hours!
  Monday – Friday 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
  Sundays—closed.
  
  Preschool Story Times are for all 3,4, & 5 year olds and invited to either Wednesday or Thursday session from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. No registration is necessary. Care givers are welcome to attend and are required to participate!
  Feb. 10/11: “Be My Valentine!”
  Feb. 17/18: “Upside Down, Silly Day!”
  Feb. 24/25: “Red, White, & Blue!”
  Wednesday, Feb. 12, Hospice Program “Jungle Journey” 1:30-2:30 p.m. K-5th Graders are invited.
  Monday, Feb. 15, Movie Day for 2-3:30 p.m. Preschool- 1stgraders are invited.
  Bad Weather? Library Children’s programs will be cancelled if school is cancelled as well, If school is delayed, the library programs will be held as scheduled.
  
  
  Did You Know… you need to show some sort of identification with current address to receive a new Atlantic Public Library card?
  
  Behind My Desk… Well, I know what some of you have been doing on these snowy, icy, cold winter days! You’ve been cleaning house! That’s wonderful, but just boxing or bagging up your discarded books and magazines and leaving them anywhere at the library is not such a wonderful idea. Just as you don’t have the space to store those unwanted items, neither does the library in January and February! Please, at least take the time to inform a library staff member your intentions of leaving discarded books at the library.
  I decided to look up the definitions of conditions of books for booksellers. This is what wikipedia uses:
• As New is self-explanatory. It means that the book is in the state that it should have been in when it left the publisher. This is the equivalent of “Mint condition” in numismatics.
• Fine (F or FN) is As New but allowing for the normal effects of time on an unused book that has been protected. A fine book shows no damage.
• Very Good (VG) describes a book that is worn but untorn. For many collectors this is the minimum acceptable condition for all but the rarest items.
• Good (G) is (as an old bookselling joke has it) not very good. It is used to describe the condition of an average used worn book that is complete.
• Fair shows wear and tear but all the text pages and illustrations or maps are present. It may lack endpapers, half-title, and even the title page.
  
• Poor describes a book that has the complete text but is so damaged that it is only of interest to a buyer who seeks a reading copy. If the damage renders the text illegible then the book is not even poor.

The library and the Friends of the Library would much prefer the first three conditions as compared to the last three.

Now, I’ll add a couple more ideas, and, yes, we have indeed received some books in these conditions, too! Moldy or the smell of urine…that would be a “No, thank you.” Water-damaged or the home for “little critters’?…again (after the screaming stops) that would be another no, thank you. Do everyone a favor and simply put them in the trash.

Now, everyone, start thinking Spring …and Keep On Thinking Libraries!