The other day I went to the local library to consult their copy of the Dictionary of National Biography, 22 Vol 1921. It was no longer on the shelf. Upon enquiry, I was informed that it was library policy to surplus all material which might be replaced by an electronic resource: in this case the Gale Biographical Database. This database gives old entries from Who's who. Not at all the same. It was given to their surplus book sale. I note it costs $3000 on Abe. And of course when the books are gone there are no more to replace them. (well there may have been a reprint or two). Also the "books were old and out of date" were "not in use" . The reference books in use were "All the plots of Shakespeare's Plays", "Condensed 100 novels with plot lines" etc. I suggested they were encouraging theft as a mode of preservation. They were not amused. Disposal was up to the local librarian, in this case ssomeone whom I believe probably thought there was no need for English History anyway. N Wolcott nwolcott2@post.harvard.edu