Bad Books to be Burned from 4 pm to sunset.

ANY BOOK CAN BE TAKEN BEFORE BURNED. Be wary of infected books.

Even a bad book that is rare, antique (not in all cases), a first edition possibly, or signed by the author, even a book inscribed by the owner if a person is of note, can escape from being burned. A book with a worm or mold will infect other books. Never introduce one of these infected books into a serious collection. It is folly. Moldy books will produce mycotoxins in the air and infect other books.

These books should be isolated if kept.  If there is a reason to keep a certain compromised book, and it has these issues, it can be gassed or frozen to kill the pathogens. Other methods are available for specific microbes or problems. Talcum powder has been used by a bookseller from Boston, I knew. She’d sprinkle talcum powder between all the infected pages. These books still should be isolated from a serious collection.

Even outdated textbooks, manuals, or discredited science books might be kept, in limited supply for each title. Ideally, there should be a few copies of all books published stored for posterity. Hard copies, preferably. Consider your own book collection. How many copies of a popular title should be kept? First option for an overflow of books or “read-only” copies is to consider giving them away,

With others, burn them! If you wish. Bring your own bad books to the Book Burning after the Maine Libertarian event here at Labyrinthia on September 14^th. Throw them on the bonfire. The Labyrinthia Guest House host is burning a shed full of bad books at this event. They are moldy books, and a few have bookworms.

How many copies of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich should a person keep? Everyone should read this book. I will donate a copy if you are looking for it. This book is in practically every library in the nation. Over 300 million copies have been printed since 1937. I am keeping one copy. I may read it again or reference it. I would rather give my extra copies away than burn them. But redundancy and bad books are out, to free up some shelf space and protect the collection from fungus. Public libraries often have this problem due to limited space. There are legitimate reasons to burn books. *

Books to Burn

Freedom of Speech – As Symbolic Language – Book-Burning

1. Moldy books
2. Books eaten by bookworms
3. Warped, water-stained, and severely damaged
4. The Binding broken
5. Books covered in maple syrup or other chemicals and liquids
6. With the copyright page torn out or the title page missing, a few may still have value
7. Fully written in, with pencil, pen, and crayons
8. Covers, back or rear panel, missing
9. Individual personal choices for what is a “bad” book

• If you own it, you can burn it.

10. Outdated textbooks
11. Technical manuals for extinct machines
12. Propaganda or points of view you believe are worthy of being burned
13. Downright Evil Books (requires discernment, but book owners and burners’ choice)
14. As a purification ritual
15. To symbolize your dislike of the author’s works, of titles you own to burn
16. Burn a book as an effigy
17. Tattered and torn paperbacks
18. X-rated material with no intrinsic value
19. The author is your X, and you want to purge them from your life – burn their books

*If you burn books to hide ideas. Sorry for you.