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Copenhagen libraries throwing out almost a third of their books

TheCopenhagenPost
October 19th, 2015


This article is more than 9 years old.

Clear-out is part of a strategy to change how materials are displayed

Copenhagen’s libraries have relatively few books in relation to the number of citizens they serve, and now management has decided to throw out almost half a million of them, DR reports.

Jakob Heide Petersen, the head of Copenhagen libraries, said the object was to create more space on the shelves and that he didn’t think users would be left with a lack of choice.

“The point of the exercise is to sort out the books that people don’t borrow and create more space to present the literature we want to disseminate,” he said.

“We can take advantage of our book collection much better. When we’re finished with this round of discarding, we will still have about a million items.”

Librarians concerned
But Tage Sørensen, the union representative for librarians in the capital region, said he and his colleagues are concerned about the initiative.

“It means the capital’s libraries will be less attractive,” he said.

“The users have been involved in very little about how their libraries will look in the future.”


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Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

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At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”