Trudeau's book, and Hope at the Library...

[HeyLeroy]

I'm lucky.

I live fairly equidistant to five different branches of my local library system, and I'm usually at one of them daily.

Recently, I've talked to several librarians who are dismayed over the stocking of Kevin Trudeau's book, and concerned over it's popularity.

Our library is facing a cash crunch. It's sad that, with five copies in circulation, they have two mure on order.

I steered them to Fowlsound's essay, and they both agreed it should be required reading for anyone reading Trudeau's book.

The Ray Of Hope: The one librarian suggested that it might be possible to include a warning sticker in these books if it was written by someone with recognized credentials, for example, a doctor.

So how 'bout it? Any MD's willing to step up?

 

[HeyLeroy]

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/15580.html

 

[thatguywhojuggles]

Despite loathing Kevin Trudeau and everything he stands for, something bothers me about putting stickers on books.

That's just inviting every sinle organization out there to come and put their stickers on whatever book they want.

I guess it's not exactly censorship, but there is something about it that bothers me.

 

[HeyLeroy]

I know, it kind of smells hypocritical, but I've read the piece of crap and it's dangerous!
Sunbathe for an hour every day with no sunscreen? Sunscreen causes cancer?

This is complete and utter BULLSH!T, but the way it comes across, some people might just believe it.

I know, Darwinism at work, but...

 

[tsg]

Despite loathing Kevin Trudeau and everything he stands for, something bothers me about putting stickers on books.

That's just inviting every sinle organization out there to come and put their stickers on whatever book they want.

I guess it's not exactly censorship, but there is something about it that bothers me.

Origin of Species would be first, me thinks.

 

[tsg]

I know, it kind of smells hypocritical, but I've read the piece of crap and it's dangerous!
Sunbathe for an hour every day with no sunscreen? Sunscreen causes cancer?

This is complete and utter BULLSH!T, but the way it comes across, some people might just believe it.

I know, Darwinism at work, but...

As much as I want Trudeau to get cancer, the fact is that a book, in and of itself, is not dangerous. People have to make the decision to follow his advice in order to be harmed by it.

Along with freedom comes the responsibility to make your own decisions. Yes, Trudeau is profiting from the ignorance and desperation of others, but the best we can do is try to educate and hope people make the right decision. If they still want to follow his advice, it's their decision.

The ideal scenario is a world in which Trudeau is free to publish his book and can't sell a single copy because no one believes him, and libraries don't carry a single copy because nobody wants to check it out.

 

[HeyLeroy]

As much as I want Trudeau to get cancer, the fact is that a book, in and of itself, is not dangerous. People have to make the decision to follow his advice in order to be harmed by it.

Along with freedom comes the responsibility to make your own decisions. Yes, Trudeau is profiting from the ignorance and desperation of others, but the best we can do is try to educate and hope people make the right decision. If they still want to follow his advice, it's their decision.

The ideal scenario is a world in which Trudeau is free to publish his book and can't sell a single copy because no one believes him, and libraries don't carry a single copy because nobody wants to check it out.

I agree, but this ain't no perfect world.

I feel that one step in educating people is to brand this book for what it is. Horse manure.

 

[Jon.]

Rather than stickering the book (which would clearly set a bad precedent for reasons already mentioned), why not just start a campaign to have libraries file it under "Fiction" rather than "Health" (whatever part of the Dewey Decimal System or Library of Congress system that is), which I presume is where it's filed now.

 

[tsg]

Rather than stickering the book (which would clearly set a bad precedent for reasons already mentioned), why not just start a campaign to have libraries file it under "Fiction" rather than "Health" (whatever part of the Dewey Decimal System or Library of Congress system that is), which I presume is where it's filed now.

I nominate a new category "Crackpot/Woo-Woo".

As discussed in another thread, I believe libraries classify books as per the publisher's recommendations and not based on any requirement of truth. LibraryLady in that same thread makes an interesting comment about how librarians use an approach called "Reader's Advisory" in which they can recommend other sources of information based on what the person is checking out.

 

[SpaceFluffer]

I agree. This is getting dangerously close to censuring, even though the book is full of dangerous 'advice'.

I suggest petitioning the library to create a new section like a Barnes & Nobles I was in once - all the astrology and tarot books were in a section labeled 'Speculation'. Let's just put all the pseudoscience into a pseudoscience section.

 

[jeffq]

I had a chat today with one of my local librarians. She confirmed that the library classification of "Non-Fiction" (in either of the Big Two systems) simply means "not a story". This includes even poetry, which may be about fictional subjects, but is not considered "Fiction".

One might consider the "Fiction" category to be one of the only two subcategories of "Books", the other being "Reference" (at least in Dewey Decimal). Looked at this way, "Non-Fiction" simply means "non-story". Trudeau may be making this stuff up, but he's not presenting it as a novel, novella, or short story, so it's not "fiction" in the library sense.