By Cindy Orr
On Shelf-Awareness, one of my favorite blogs, Robert Gray recently discussed what he calls “The Shame List.” He got the idea from a panel at the Great Lakes Booksellers Association Conference where one of the panelists said, “Backlist used to be defined by publishers. Now backlist is much more what you define backlist to be for yourself. Special offers aside, backlist is the books you want to have most of the time.”
This blog is aimed at bookstores, but could be applied to libraries as well. Here’s the basic question:
“Which books would you be terribly embarrassed not to own?”
Gray continues the thread here with a discussion about the difference between an “oh oh” book—one you’d be embarrassed not to have, and an “oh” book…the kind that defines your individuality.
If you’re a more positive person, you could look at the question the other way and make a “Sacred Cow” list. But the bottom line is…do you know how to maintain the balance between having books on your shelves that never check out, and yet avoiding the “shame factor?” Local history is one obvious sacred cow in my book (pun intended). Any ideas on the rest?
