Messing About With Books

A quick perusal of the shelves of your local library can show you where the purchasing priorities lie — and they're not in the science section.

In a review of a paranormal photo exhibition in a back issue of The British and Irish Skeptic, I came across the suggestion that rather than waste time viewing photos of UFOs, crop circles, ghosts, bent forks and the like, we should spend an afternoon in our local museum or library "pondering the real wonders of the universe".

I decided on a visit to the latter for some R&R (renewal and research). Just what books do they have on the library shelves?

Our public library serves 58,000 people and holds 140,000 titles. Although small by some standards, it is well used, with 80,000 books out at any one time. My survey looked at the remaining 60,000 books on the shelves.

Experimental Procedure

Throughout the library, the shelf units are about one metre long, which provided a coarse measurement. For finer detail, the actual number of books was counted.

I noted that sports totalled 25 book-metres (bm) and science 33 bm, which seemed reasonable enough. Included in the science category was about a metre of books on medicine — standard medical practice, that is.

My first shock came with the additional section on health and healing. There were 25 bm devoted to health and related topics such as nutrition. Many of them

October 1991 Number 21 were, to my skeptical eyes, of a dubious nature. There were 10 titles on homeopathy, 8 on chiropractic, and 6 both on naturopathy and acupuncture. Herbal medicine rated 31 titles, iridology three.

Some bizarre titles included Energy as a Healing Art,.A Ten-Minute Cure for the Common Cold, Healing Exercises from China and Chinese Infant Massage. In addition, there were books on music therapy, colour therapy, reflexology, moxibustion and every combination of diet imaginable. There were sinister titles like Curing Cancer and ridiculous ones like Sorcerers and Healing Spirits.

There was a metre of books devoted to allergies — some useful, some laughable, others just plain stupid. The really alarming aspect of the whole thing was that interspersed with the cranky titles were books of value. Obviously readers are expected to discern the responsible from the irresponsible, the valuable from the trash. That may be expecting too much of many people.

Somewhat disheartened by what I had found, I asked the head librarian how books were purchased. There are ten book buyers, all trained or in-training librarians, who share subjects. Catalogues are examined and local requests are met where possible. Some subjects are poorly represented, as staff lack the appropriate expertise needed to choose material.

I moved on to the religious section. There were 19 bm in the category, 15 on Christianity and 4 on other religions. A quick look through the titles revealed only one on Biblical criticism, although Michael Baigent's Holy Blood and the Holy Grail was there.

Finally, I came to the mind science and unexplained phenomena sections. There were 3 bm on these subjects, including numerous titles on astrology and others on palmistry, the I Ching, psi, Tarot cards and graphology.

Erich von Daniken was represented with seven titles on the shelf. Whitley Strieber, had two. Other examples of "unexplained phenomena" deemed fit for our reading pleasure included UFOs, Loch Ness and other monsters, Atlantis and discovering past lives.

Where that leaves us, I'm not sure. One thing is certain — there are more than just the "real wonders of the universe" lurking in your local library. Perhaps that's how it should be.

Then again, although I can choose not to buy a book on the paranormal at my local bookshop, I have no choice in paying for them in my rates which subsidise the local library.

Russell Dear is an investigative Invercargill skeptic who reads, as well as teaching maths.