Watch CBS News

Berkeley Residents Peeved Over Mysterious Loss Of Thousands Of Public Library Books

BERKELEY (CBS SF) -- Berkeley booklovers, retired librarians, council members and authors expressed discontent Wednesday at a news conference in front of the city's library over the way library officials are weeding books from the library's collection.

Fifty or so people met in front of the library at 2090 Kittredge St. at noon and learned that director of library services Jeff Scott told community members 2,200 books had been discarded as of Jan. 1.

Then they heard that a coalition of residents found out that more than 13,000 last copies of books such as Studs Terkel's, "Talking to Myself: A Memoir of My Times" are gone.

Former public library head of reference Diane Davenport said more than 39,000 items, including books, have been discarded.

The coalition said that the worst part is the loss of trust between the community and library officials.

"I'd like to say I'm happy to see you here, but I'm not," District 7 Berkeley city council member Kriss Worthington said. "I'm sad."

Worthington didn't believe what was happening when he first heard about the controversy. But then he started hearing from respected former librarians.

The coalition members said they asked library officials how many and which books had been discarded and didn't believe the answer they were getting.

Worthington asked Scott the same question and Scott told him he couldn't give him that answer. But Worthington said he was able to show Scott on the library's computer system which books were deleted.

Scott confirmed Worthington's statement and released a statement Wednesday that said information he gave to the community July 9 "was misleading and inaccurate."

He said its possible that 40,820 items may have been discarded, but officials are still researching the number. It's possible that some items on the list of 40,820 items were simply a record in the computer system and no book was on the shelf.

Scott said about 50,000 are discarded each year. Coalition members also claimed that Scott lied about whether the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library were getting a chance to pick from the discarded books.

The Friends sell the used books at two locations in Berkeley and the proceeds go to support community programs at the library, according the Friend's website.

Scott said he asked Friends officials in January whether they wanted any of the books being discarded. He said they told him no.

He said he asked again in July and was told the Friends only wanted art, reference and large print books.

He said library officials want to work out an agreement so it's clear what items the Friends want.

Coalition members also claim Scott violated state law by failing to respond to a public records request and to provide most of the documents requested.

Berkeley resident Matthew Brandon said that Scott needs a reprimand.

On Wednesday, Scott was forthcoming with requests for information. "We're working on making processes more transparent so we don't have these issues again," he said.

© Copyright 2015 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.