What NOT to read

Every week we give you a list of new books and resources that are available from the CSU Library. Today I’d like to share a few books that have recently been “weeded” from the library’s collection, and as you’ll see, for good reason!

Weeding: The process of examining items in a library collection title by title to identify for permanent withdrawal those that meet pre-established weeding criteria, especially when space in the stacks is limited. (Source: Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science)


When Johnny & Judy Don’t Read by Maurice Saxby (1978)

What happens when Johnny and Judy don’t read? Do they spontaneously combust? Are they doomed to live in a cave for the rest of their days? Don’t despair – this 1978 tome has them covered by explaining to their teachers exactly what they can do to avoid poor Johnny and Judy’s descent into ‘high illiteracy.’

Russian for Librarians by Gregory Walker (1983)

Need to brush up on your Russian library terms? This 1983 gem explains all those tricky Russian terms you’ve always wondered about but were too embarrassed to ask.


The Naked Children Daniel Fader (1971)

Problem 1. This book has quite an unfortunate title, one that prompts lifted eyebrows and suspicion that you don’t actually want to know what this book is about!

Problem 2. The use of language is rather politically incorrect; so politically incorrect in fact, that if it were a new book, it would never make it to the shelf! I won’t divulge too much, but it certainly dropped a few jaws around here.

We’ll keep you posted as we find more examples of books you won’t be seeing on our shelves any time soon. In the meantime, there’s a fun website that collects examples of weeded books from libraries around the world you might like to check out: Awful Library Books

3 thoughts

  1. I'd be interested to know what you have against "When Johnny and Judy don't read" as you do not make it clear at all.

  2. Pity, as it is a seminal text for those interested in literacy research, especially such an esteemed academic's contribution to literacy teaching in NSW.

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