Boy Scouts Get a Computer Badge!

Computers
Boy Scouts of America
1968

Submitter: I removed this book from the shelves of my public library when I did a massive overhaul of the collection last year, soon after I was hired. I saved a few of the most outdated and/or offensive titles under my desk. This is one of them. At the time of weeding, this book was nearly 50 years old. A technology book. 50 YEARS OUT OF DATE. A TECHNOLOGY BOOK.

Holly: Do librarians hold on to things like this because they think, “Oh, it’s cute! People like nostalgia!” or because they think it has some sort of historical value – or are they just lazy and haven’t weeded in decades? It is cute and people do like nostalgia, and it does have historic value (and yes, they are often just lazy)…but those are the reasons why it belongs in a museum or archive, not in the regular shelves at the public library. My favorite line (last page included below) is about how if your “dad” uses his credit card to buy gasoline, a computer makes that payment happen. How does it work when mom pays at the pump? Apparently in 1968, she didn’t.