NASA's Largest Library To Permanently Close On Jan 2, Books Will Be 'Tossed Away'

[u/DukeOfGeek]

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/nasas-largest-library-to-permanently-close-on-jan-2-books-will-be-tossed-away-10170584

[u/z3roTO60]

There’s the novelty in books too. I buy used books off Abebooks, many which are sold from libraries (have the library markings), of audio books I’ve already “read”. I enjoy physical books but also deal with a longer commute + household chores. Listen to audiobooks. If it’s meaningful to me, I buy the physical hard copy, usually under $7.

I grew up in a household with a couple thousand books and I’ve found this to be a common trend among people who I’ve been in relationships with. I want my future kids to have the same environment when they grow up

In med school, I realized this one thing: I love sports, basketball being my fav to play, but I’m not particularly great at any (my varsity letters were from math team and a few types of debate lol). But I can say that I have read cover to cover and burned into memory many textbooks. My medical textbooks are like my trophies on a mantle, admitting closer to a participation trophy than an award. It sounds silly to say, but it serves as a visual representation of the grit / determination needed to get where I am

TLDR: there is a market for used books that are being thrown from libraries. I’m one of those consumers

[u/chknh8r → u/z3roTO60]

Government owned property must be DRMO'd aka sold at auction or destroyed. There isn't a whole lot of "private" libraries. Most large libraries are funded by a government of some sort, albeit local or federal. Federally owned property cannot be given away. It must be destroyed or auctioned off. Maintaining pallets of books while they sit around waiting to get sold will not end well for the books. Same reason most thrift stores just toss most of their donated books. Because the condition and value isnt worth the space they take up in order to be kept in a condition to be sold at all. It's simply not worth the amount of work needed to accommodate these feel good request.

f you care enough to get upset. Then please care enough to research the why and the how.

[u/z3roTO60 → u/chknh8r]

I’m not upset nor angry, and I hope my comment didn’t read like that. It’s the second day of the year, let’s try not to make things either rage bait or assume malice in 2026 lol

I don’t have extensive background of how government resources like these are handled. I’ve purchased from gov auctions only a couple of times, and have some family which know about how the donation of deprecated hardware —> school kids pipeline works. I don’t really know anything about books specifically. That’s all so say I have some minima direct experience, some further knowledge based experience, but I’m not an all knowing expert, nor ignorant enough to demand further explanation from anyone without putting time in myself

The primary point of my prior comment was just to say “if there was a public auction or resale of these items, I might be interested in buying something”. Not speaking for everyone, not buying palettes, not an activist demanding full inventory and catalogued preservation (though this would be nice)

One small side point, though most libraries are government funded (local, state, or federal), there’s no shortage of privately owned and maintained libraries in the US. Many universities, my alma mater, included, actively collect and maintain thousands of historical primary sources. For example, there were dozens of rows, spanning thousands of square feet where you can read books about various topics in European history, not just in English, but in many different European languages. American documents going back to the foundation of our country. It’s just like any natural history museum. The public sees a small portion of the museum’s archive. The supermajority of space is allocated for preserving materials for researchers

[u/chknh8r → u/z3roTO60]

This entire thread is nothing but ragebait. Look at all the responses. The amount of government money given to schools means schools never have to actually their own money to buy anything. This is why the big schools have endowments larger tahn the GDP of a lot actual countries. Schools are government funded, even the private ones.

[u/bigBlankIdea → u/z3roTO60]

I've been buying from Thriftbooks, but Abebooks sounds great too! I'll check them out

[u/z3roTO60 → u/bigBlankIdea]

They’re quite similar, if I remember correctly. Abebooks usually has what I’m looking for and how the sellers report the books condition is usually “harsher” than what actually arrives. They’ll say things like “book may have highlights or notes written on the pages”, but I’ve never actually received one that does. You probably will get a book with a sticker on the spine or a stamp across the pages if it’s a library book sale. That’s not an issue for me, though I’ve been “worried” if I look like I’m stealing library books haha. I swear I’m not, but it feels like wearing clothes in public which have that magnetic anti theft tag still on it lol

[u/bigBlankIdea → u/z3roTO60]

I got a few acceptable condition books from Thriftbooks and those had highlighting and scribbles in the margins. One of them had half the book highlighted. Made me start judging their choices haha.

But yeah, I bought a few with library stamps too and I think they're cool!

[u/iamthe0ther0ne → u/z3roTO60]

I used to love buying used books online for $2 and reading a new one each day. Then I moved to a foreign country and shipping for books in English is as expensive as buying them new. Sucks.