Watch now: ‘Life of a Book’

How do you think a book gets to the shelf in a library? Where does it go after that?

We’ve got a video to answer these and other questions, thanks to our Collections Services Team members who do the work!

A tell-all tale

In this tell-all tale of mystery and wonder, Supervising Librarian Maya Conde-Kalmijn and colleagues will take you on a journey through the life of a book, from selecting to weeding and everything in between.

As Maya says, “Prepare to have your flabbers gasted, your assumptions challenged, and your mind blown. Behold the library’s best-kept secrets of how much work goes into getting, circulating, maintaining, and eventually letting go of these magical things we call books.”

Video highlights

Curious? See some highlights here, and watch the video to get the full story.

Librarian sits at a desk and does not have a book in their hands.

“Many people think that librarians spend their work day reading books. This is a lie.”

Person leaves the library with a book.

“Now that the patron has checked out the book, they can leave the library and read it wherever they like. We don’t know where patrons like to read their books, and frankly we don’t want to know.”

Library book lies in a puddle on the sidewalk.

“The Life of a Book can be quite the adventure. Unfortunately, sometimes those adventures end in tragedy.”