Like most libraries, our library brings in thousands of newspapers and magazines each year. If we kept each paper copy of each periodical that we’ve received over the forty years of our library’s existence, we would not be able to walk around because we’d have magazines all over the place. Plus, we’d probably be violating a list of fire code regulations.
What happens to the old periodicals, you may ask? There are some titles that we keep for many years. Other titles, we purchase microfilm to archive them and save space. With the growth of our library’s online database there are many titles that we only get online, and we never purchase the paper copies at all.
Ok, so what happens when we purchase the mircofilm? First, we give away any titles to faculty members or students why may want them. We have a cart in the library with past issues. For instance, we give old newspapers to the biology lab, and they use them to things tidy during the dissection (yuck) labs. This save money and resources by not having to buy paper towels. Our other titles are recycled so that we are not filling up landfills. We have been doing this for quite a long time.
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