The End of the Collector Mindset

[Fading Fast]

I miss two things that were in NYC when I first moved here in the 1980s - the Automat and Howard Johnson (which had an enormous counter - seated several 100). They both went away in the '90s - the Automat became a GAP (that I still curse every time I pass it) and one became a Sephora (in it's most recent incarnation).

Now, the thing is all these "upscale" sandwich places where you either pick your sandwich from a refrigerated case, or they make it for you - based on a very specific board menu - and you sit in a chaotic seating area that only gets - sometimes - a perfunctory cleaning and organizing during the day.

That said, this being NYC, you can still find old diners (less and less each year though) - and I know all the ones near me. But the true simpleness of HoJo's or the Automat is gone. Growing up, my favorite was - and this was a treat - when my Mom would take me to Woolworth's for lunch at the counter.

For whatever reason - as we are now a "foodie" culture and the "upscale" sandwich shops are what people want. And I'm not talking about the hot shots in their suits, the customers are everybody from construction guys to secretaries, nurses to transit workers - i.e. Regular Joes. And in my neighborhood, the Le Pan Quotidien does a better business with the Regular Joes - at $10-$12 a sandwich (I'm not kidding) , than the old style sandwich shop I go that costs $5-$7.

Long story short. I friend of my mother is in NYC with her son and I was asked by my mother to take them to a museum on the West Side this weekend (I have told my mother I hate doing these things - and I really, really do - and she always says it is the last time, but well, it never is and I don't want to embarrass her, so I do it).

But the reason I am posting is that this friend sent me an email - an hour ago - thanking me and asking me to meet her and her son at - ready for this - Le Pan Quotidien (right near the museum) for lunch before the museum - her treat (which I won't let happen, hence, I will now be the dope paying for the $12 sandwiches - for three people mind you - at a place that I know is stupid crazy overpriced and, again, for people I don't even know).

But how funny, of all the places that there are in NYC that she chose that one on the day I had just ranted here about how overpriced that place is. :eusa_doh:

 

[LizzieMaine]

If you want a good place for a cheap sandwich, Digby's up on West 52nd near the Museum of Broadcasting (or whatever name it's being called now), will set you up for less than $10. Or at least they did the last time I was there, c. 2012.

 

[Fading Fast]

If you want a good place for a cheap sandwich, Digby's up on West 52nd near the Museum of Broadcasting (or whatever name it's being called now), will set you up for less than $10. Or at least they did the last time I was there, c. 2012.

Thank you for the recommendation, but experience has talked me that I am just going to do what is asked of me as it is not about what I want, or even trying to give some people I don't know a better NYC experience, it is about doing what they want, how they want it.

That said, as I have so much respect for your recommendation, that I looked up Digby's (was surprised I didn't know it as I worked in that area for years and knew most of the good [i.e., normal people] places) and, according to Yelp, it has closed. And another one goes away. My guess is a Le Pan Quotidien will open there.

 

[jamespowers]

And you might be familiar with this one. Some twenty years ago the main San Francisco library was being renovated and somehow they had miscalculated the amount of shelf space needed so what they did was load up the books that there was no longer any room for in the middle of the night and take them to the dump. Among the material that was thrown away was much of the reference section. It came to light when a local author who was doing research for a book discovered that the reference material he needed was suddenly no longer available.

:doh: Idiots!

 

[Haversack]

San Francisco's Head Librarian, who with the architect was heavily involved in the design of the City's new library in the mid-1990s, repeatedly stated that books were a thing of the past. The fact that the new library's design had much less shelving space than the old was, from his point of view, a happy accident. Over 200,000 books went to landfill in the middle of the night. He resigned his post the year after the new library opened.

 

[Bamaboots]

San Francisco's Head Librarian, who with the architect was heavily involved in the design of the City's new library in the mid-1990s, repeatedly stated that books were a thing of the past. The fact that the new library's design had much less shelving space than the old was, from his point of view, a happy accident. Over 200,000 books went to landfill in the middle of the night. He resigned his post the year after the new library opened.

Good riddance. I still enjoy turning a page. Not as convenient but more satisfying than sliding my finger across the screen.

 

[LizzieMaine]

One of my best friends is a librarian. Most of them have yet to be taken in by that particular marketing craze.

 

[jamespowers]

San Francisco's Head Librarian, who with the architect was heavily involved in the design of the City's new library in the mid-1990s, repeatedly stated that books were a thing of the past. The fact that the new library's design had much less shelving space than the old was, from his point of view, a happy accident. Over 200,000 books went to landfill in the middle of the night. He resigned his post the year after the new library opened.

He need some real punishment for doing that-----:whip: :laser:
Just throwing books away was a cop out and trying to keep the ineptitude hidden. Those books could have been sold to raise some money for the project in the first place. :doh:
We had a similar incident here a few years ago one summer. The high school tried to do away with shop classes by simply junking all the machines etc. One citizen noticed and raised a bunch of us up in protest. He managed to save a few shop machines and tools from the scrap heap. in the end, not only were shop classes continued but we managed to get even better machines and tools donated by the public to fill our shops back up.
People nowadays all expect to be lawyers, doctors and CEOs? Who is going to fix the things that break---plumbing, electrical, building etc., etc. Thos people make more than doctors.

 

[jamespowers]

One of my best friends is a librarian. Most of them have yet to be taken in by that particular marketing craze.

As librarians get younger and younger, I fear that the Apple heads will take over and digitize everything. :doh:

 

[jamespowers]

Long story short. I friend of my mother is in NYC with her son and I was asked by my mother to take them to a museum on the West Side this weekend (I have told my mother I hate doing these things - and I really, really do - and she always says it is the last time, but well, it never is and I don't want to embarrass her, so I do it).

But the reason I am posting is that this friend sent me an email - an hour ago - thanking me and asking me to meet her and her son at - ready for this - Le Pan Quotidien (right near the museum) for lunch before the museum - her treat (which I won't let happen, hence, I will now be the dope paying for the $12 sandwiches - for three people mind you - at a place that I know is stupid crazy overpriced and, again, for people I don't even know).

But how funny, of all the places that there are in NYC that she chose that one on the day I had just ranted here about how overpriced that place is. :eusa_doh:

Enjoy your ripoff sandwich.

 

[Bamaboots]

One of my best friends is a librarian. Most of them have yet to be taken in by that particular marketing craze.

I still remember the librarian from my elementary school when I was in fifth grade, directing me to the books relevant to dog training, as I had just gotten my first dog. I still remember her kindness, knowledge and intelligence as she helped me with the books. Lessons I remember both in training dogs and appreciating people with knowledge of books

 

[Nobert]

As librarians get younger and younger, I fear that the Apple heads will take over and digitize everything. :doh:

Thing is, the idea that librarians are inherently "book people," is something of a misperception. Some of them are, but Library Science is more about information storage and organization than books per se. An ex of mine who looked into attending Simmonds College in Boston (a library science school) ran into some people who were not really enamored of books. And it's not just the modern digitization of everything. There were powerful librarians (as in, Library of Congress administrators) who were enamored of microfiche and mocrofilm when they came out and were chomping at the bit to convert everything into that format. This was a dispiriting thing for me to learn. (As should be obvious to anyone who's read it, my source for this info is Nicholson Baker's Double Fold. For those who haven't, you should read it, it's a great book.)

 

[Haversack]

If I am remembering correctly, not only was that particular head librarian unapologetic about having the disposed of the books, he was also wanting to replace the professional librarians who dealt with books with library pages who's primary duty was the reshelving of books. After all, the Library of the Future is all about digital access.

And I am afraid he is becoming right. I've been having to triage our bookshelves at home and am finding that the market for used books is shrinking. Some friends of mine who work down in the Valley of Heart's Delight are now referring to books as 'buggy whips".

 

[LizzieMaine]

As librarians get younger and younger, I fear that the Apple heads will take over and digitize everything. :doh:

She's only 27, and loves books as much as I do, so the good fight will go on a little while longer. The fact that libraries up here get so little public money to begin with -- they don't attract tourists, so nobody cares about funding them -- has prevented any mass adoption of digitization in this area. Public libraries are the single most democratic institution in most small towns, and despite *always* being short-funded are absolutely indispensible to the fabric of community life.

The best book to read about the push to de-book libraries is Nicholson Baker's "Double Fold." He focuses specifically on the destruction of printed newspaper holdings -- a campaign largely pushed as a marketing ploy by the manufacturers of microfilm equipment -- but much of what he has to say about the panic about books being perishable applies across the board. As always, follow the money. The push to debook wouldn't be going on if someone wasn't actively *marketing* it.

As for the Library of Congress, I have two bound volumes of the New York Herald Tribune from May and June of 1930 under my bed at this very moment, stamped "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROPERTY." Wonder how that happened?

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

As librarians get younger and younger, I fear that the Apple heads will take over and digitize everything. :doh:

Apple heads! I gotta remember that one. lol

 

[jamespowers]

She's only 27, and loves books as much as I do, so the good fight will go on a little while longer. The fact that libraries up here get so little public money to begin with -- they don't attract tourists, so nobody cares about funding them -- has prevented any mass adoption of digitization in this area. Public libraries are the single most democratic institution in most small towns, and despite *always* being short-funded are absolutely indispensible to the fabric of community life.

The best book to read about the push to de-book libraries is Nicholson Baker's "Double Fold." He focuses specifically on the destruction of printed newspaper holdings -- a campaign largely pushed as a marketing ploy by the manufacturers of microfilm equipment -- but much of what he has to say about the panic about books being perishable applies across the board. As always, follow the money. The push to debook wouldn't be going on if someone wasn't actively *marketing* it.

As for the Library of Congress, I have two bound volumes of the New York Herald Tribune from May and June of 1930 under my bed at this very moment, stamped "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROPERTY." Wonder how that happened?

That knock at the door is The Library of Congress representative wanting his newspaper back.
Well, one less Apple head to have to deal with. She’ll have quite a struggle through the years with books.
Our libraries sure aren’t underfunded here. They just rebuilt one---spending 13 million to do it when they could have built a new one for less. :doh: I haven’t used it much lately......

 

[jamespowers]

Apple heads! I gotta remember that one. lol

Yeah my friends say I have a knack for naming everything.

 

[jamespowers]

If I am remembering correctly, not only was that particular head librarian unapologetic about having the disposed of the books, he was also wanting to replace the professional librarians who dealt with books with library pages who's primary duty was the reshelving of books. After all, the Library of the Future is all about digital access.

And I am afraid he is becoming right. I've been having to triage our bookshelves at home and am finding that the market for used books is shrinking. Some friends of mine who work down in the Valley of Heart's Delight are now referring to books as 'buggy whips".

This all reminds me of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERqnwjXkg-0

 

[EliasRDA]

Whats sad here is that when I was younger, back in the 70s & early 80s I remember weekends spent at our local town library, browsing both the kids & adults sections. That was a reason in elementary school I was skipped ahead a grade because I was & still am a bookworm.
But here in DE I needed something on Saturday so decided to go to see if they had it, mind you this was about noontime. Library was closed up tight. Noon on a Saturday? And they don't open on sundays. What?!?

Now I understand why many of the kids here can not read at their grade level & why so many are failing the stupid school tests. Because they cant go to the local library & to my knowledge none of the schools have libraries anymore, unlike my CT elementary, jr high & high schools did.
Makes me glad in a way I don't have kids, I'd be homeschooling their arses, provided I wasn't in jail for disciplining them the old fashioned way. Not quite spare the rod spoil the child but I don't do putting them in a corner as a punishment.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Up here the libraries are still open six days a week, and all the schools have real hardcover book libraries on premises. Apparently civilization keeps better up here in the cold.