01-15-2012, 10:18 PM
The couple who have been housing and managing Gothic Journal's nonprofit Gothic Romance Lending Library in Spokane, WA, have resigned effective July 2012. They are getting into their 70s, and rightfully deserve retirement. The library's owner, Gothic Journal, is now faced with the dilemma of what to do with the 3,421 volume library. You can read details about it and see pictures of its extent here:
http://www.gothicjournal.com/index_files/Page5665.htm
The books have been donated by many gothic romance enthusiasts and publishers with the intent that they would be kept in perpetuity for readers to check in/out via the USPS. Usage of the library has fallen off over time, as there has been no budget to promote it.
If the GRLL is to survive, it needs someone younger than its 60+ current owner to carry on the torch.
Do you have suggestions as to what could be done with the GRLL (and its books) and/or who might be willing to take on its ownership, housing, and management? Or, is it a concept that is past its time, esp. given the growth of electronic publishing, rising postal costs, and the waning appeal of physical books. A majority of these books are and/or will become unavailable to the public over time, so it would be akin to sacrilege to just throw them in a dumpster. The owner has promised that they will never be sold.
Please post your thoughts on this perplexing dilemma, and I will pass them on to Gothic Journal, or you can contact the owner directly via the contact info there. Gothic Journal
http://www.gothicjournal.com/index_files/Page5665.htm
The books have been donated by many gothic romance enthusiasts and publishers with the intent that they would be kept in perpetuity for readers to check in/out via the USPS. Usage of the library has fallen off over time, as there has been no budget to promote it.
If the GRLL is to survive, it needs someone younger than its 60+ current owner to carry on the torch.
Do you have suggestions as to what could be done with the GRLL (and its books) and/or who might be willing to take on its ownership, housing, and management? Or, is it a concept that is past its time, esp. given the growth of electronic publishing, rising postal costs, and the waning appeal of physical books. A majority of these books are and/or will become unavailable to the public over time, so it would be akin to sacrilege to just throw them in a dumpster. The owner has promised that they will never be sold.
Please post your thoughts on this perplexing dilemma, and I will pass them on to Gothic Journal, or you can contact the owner directly via the contact info there. Gothic Journal
