Book Reclassification Day
March 23rd, 2007 • atheism
What is Book Reclassification Day? It’s Dan Harlow’s idea of a way to get back at book stores for improperly shelving and categorizing books. Lots of people like the idea, lots of people do not. People are split on what to do mainly because reshelving would mean extra work for already tired employees but people want to do it because it may make the stores rethink their ways of shelving and categorization. Personally, I think the idea is not the greatest because I know people that work in book stores and that shelve books and the last they willingly want to do is move a whole mess of books from one section to another because someone is trying to passive-aggresively make a statement.
But why did this entire idea of a new “day” come about? Well, Saint Gasoline made a hilarious comic about it and Dan ran with the idea. While not an Atheist in any sense of the word (I am a strict Gnostic Luciferian minus that magick mumbo-jumbo), I do support what Dan is trying to do 100%. He wants book stores to reshelve or reclassify books based on or about Intelligent Design moved from the science section to either the religion or faith section because Intelligent Design is nothing more than faith-based pseudo-science (meaning Christian fundies and other Christianists). Some books on ID are written by scientists but does this make them science section worthy? Many Christians will vehemently argue that Richard Dawkins‘ books such as The God Delusion are as much based on science as Intelligent Design is and would love nothing more for them to be removed from the sciences sections. Better yet, they’d probably want them tossed out and burned.
So what’s my real take on this? After a day or so of commenting and discussion between myself, Dan, and a number of other commentors, Book Reclassification Day went from moving books (and pissing people off) to simply turning them upside down, leaving notes regarding the books’ falsehood, making hip little signs to alert passers-by that books on ID are not science worthy and so on. Not only will I stand by this far more than I will moving books, I will probably participate myself. However, my true stance is that instead of taking guerilla actions such as these, I find it would be far more beneficial and effective to write the book stores and complain over and over about the poor classification of such books and demand they rethink their shelving strategies. I know that shelving positioning and determination are almost entirely based on popular demand, e.g. groupthink, but seriously I don’t see why an extra section or two cannot be created to shelve books more appropriately.
If this ever works, I’ll start writing so I can get the damned books on Satanism removed from the atrocious “New Age” section and properly placed in the “Religion” section where they truly do belong.
