Disintegrating into Dust.(libraries disposing of books and newspapers)(Brief Article)

Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper

It seems remarkable how often, in reporting, one curious little thing leads to another, and the next thing you know you're chasing a big story.

That is what happened to novelist Nicholson Baker, who set out to write a cheerful New Yorker piece about library card catalogs. His good cheer soured when he learned that libraries were throwing out the old catalogs, and it curdled when he discovered they also were systematically trashing books and old newspapers.

Enraged, Baker retaliated. Liquidating his o