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Bookcase Graveyard Share This on LinkedIn   Tweet This   Forward This

26 September 2022

Walking by the local middle school yesterday we were struck by this unusual collection of former public servants. They had apparently had quite a retirement party.

Bookcase Graveyard. Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42mm II R kit lens at 22mm (44mm equivalent), f8, 1/640 second and ISO 200. Processed in Adobe Camera Raw.

Or could it be the years of service simply wore them down? We suspect so but they weren't talking.

The question we really wanted to ask, however, was whether they had been replaced or not. They might not have for two reasons.

The first is that kids don't need books any more. They have phones. And these phones have screens (retina screens at that) which can display an endless array of books. Maybe these days middle school kids have a library app instead of a room with bookcases full of books.

The other reason is the recent fascination with book banning. No, we don't do that around here, but it's become all the rage in some parts of the country. Could it be a few hundred books were disposed of?

The old bookcases, as we mentioned, weren't saying.

Still, we had to admire them for their years of service. So we took a group shot. Their last one perhaps. With no pins for years of service, no gold watches, no anniversary clocks.

Just a yellow caution tape for bunting as they lined up against a gray wall with a sign warning them not to block the fire lane.

As if they, of all people, had any such idea.


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