Xmas, I too am very skeptical of the CPSC figure about how often libraries replace their entire collections. My local well-funded library has MANY children’s titles from the 50s through ’85 (and a few even older), quite deliberately. Some are well-liked books that haven’t been reprinted so they keep patching the old volumes back together, some are books that get regular intermittent use (like seasonal and holiday books, or on certain less common topics for school reports), and some are ones that are simply still in good shape because they’re used by older kids or are “niche” titles with a small but passionate readership. My library’s lucky to have space for both older and newer books, but many libraries of course hang onto older titles because they don’t have the budgets to replace them, and that’s especially true in lower SES areas.

Emily Sheketoff, the president of ALA, has been quoted several times as saying the law will lead to the loss of tens of millions of titles. I suspect that’s a gross underestimate, once we take into account all the older children’s books still circulating in non-library venues, like in the homes of kids, in classrooms, in waiting rooms, etc. According to the American Association of Publishers, in 2007, there were 3.4 BILLION children’s books printed. Now that big number includes some titles for kids in the 12-16 range, and it reflects growth in children’s publishing. So let’s be conservative and say that only 1% of that number are still around for each of the years 1980 through 1984. That would still be 170 million books just for that five year stretch – and given that I can readily find inexpensive copies of children’s books published even in the first couple decades of the 20th century, I think it’s fair to say there are hundreds of millions more pre-1980 children’s books still in use in one fashion or another.

Every single obscure vintage children’s title I’ve tried to locate online in the past five years, I’ve found INSTANTLY. I’ve literally never looked for one I couldn’t find on amazon, usually for under $20 which is what many new titles cost. There’s never been a book that I couldn’t find with at least 2 copies available – and those were books that had tiny print runs and were never re-released. Then think about all the old books not for sale – sitting on people’s shelves or boxed up to save for the grandkids – or for sale at yard sales, rummage sales, thrift stores. It’s staggering.

Books, even those for very young children, survive.

So what will happen if we take away all those old books? No one knows, but I feel certain it will not be good for the literacy efforts in this country.

As for whether the CPSC is over-reacting: I’m always one of the first to jump on overzealous regulatory agencies. But in this case it appears that the legislation has forced their hands, and that the CPSC has no other course of action besides the one they are taking.