“Don’t believe everything you read” may be an odd thing for a librarian to say, but Caveat Emptor, let the buyer ( or borrower) beware, not all books are created equal.
Recently, Kevin Trudeau – author of Debt cures they don’t want you to know about (which the library has) and The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You to Know About (which we don’t) has been sentenced for 7 years jail.
Trudeau’s weight-loss book describes a gruelling, 500-calorie-a-day diet, as well as hormone treatments. The deception, Guzman explained, came in Trudeau’s infomercials, which misrepresented the contents of the book as laying out “a simple, no hunger … diet-free method of losing weight” that enticed more people to buy the book.
This is an interesting case, because arguably there could be a number of books that announce all types of alternative cures, ways to get instantly and filthy rich and instant weight loss while eating cake. They may seem to be offering the impossible or telling downright lies.
You may wonder why we purchase such material, surely the Library should only be holding stock that is technically correct, well researched and truthful?
The UNESCO Public Library Manifesto (which you can read in our Collection Development Policy) states that
The Public Library is the local centre of information, making all kinds of knowledge and information readily available to its users.
Consequently we cover as many opinions and ideas as possible to hopefully satisfy everyone’s needs from information about Alien’s meeting up with Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower, how Vegetable oils give you cancer, to becoming younger next week.
Who knows what is right or wrong, true or false, but I’m off to eat a big slice of cake to see if it helps me lose weight!
Christchurch City Libraries Blog 