I had to click past that anouncement ever yday for so long, and now its just disappeared.  Did I miss something?  Did PBS get the books?

I never heard anything either.

Dawn

They are still waiting to hear.  Apparently the guy who owned the bookstore is still threatening to burn books and keeps screaming that no one wants the books, even though we have over 10,000 signatures on teh petition.   Plus, I had heard that some members went into his store and were almost appalled at the condition of some of his books.  :-S  

What do you mean, that the books were in bad shape?

Dawn

I heard, on the news, that he had already started burning some weeks ago.  It sounded to me like the guy wanted to burn the books, and wasn't really all that excited about anyone saving them.  If he burned them, after all, he'd be on the news.  If he gave them away, he wouldn't be. 

So, anything new on this?  I just realized it was gone and I'm at least 3 months past the last post on this...

Just darn curios

I read a thread here that included the guy's news article, and it seems that he does not want to give his books to PBS (or any place) because then we are going to "profit" from them.  It seems to me that the owner of Prospero's doesn't really care about his books anyway - I checked the thread listed above and someone mentioned how dirty and nasty a lot of his books are - they would not be postable here at all.  If he cared about books at all, then he wouldn't be burning them - he's just trying to get the attention of the media, IMHO.

ETA: Here's the text of the article: what's bold and underlined at the bottom is what I think is in reference to PBS.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The owner of a midtown bookstore set fire to hundreds of books on West 39th Street on Sunday.

 "We hope to spark a conversation about the importance of books in the face of a marked shrinking in reading trends, and staggering waste streams of actual books," said Prospero's Books owner, Tom Wayne.

 Prospero's has publicized for months that it was looking for a good home for thousands of books, and saying it would burn the books if no one wanted them.

 Prospero's maintains three outdoor shelves of books for insomniacs, families with loved ones at the nearby KU Medical Center, early riders of the Kansas City bus system or simply those needing a book but who can't afford one. "Payment is on the honor system," said Prospero’s co-owner, Will Leathem. "Several mornings a week, we find dollars shoved beneath our door. It has been a great lesson in human nature." 

The bookstore owners said they received thousands of e-mails and phone calls with suggestions what to do with the books. But few people offered to take them.

 "With all of the public outcry, I thought more people would step up to give these books a home," said Wayne. "Maybe people thought being outraged would accomplish something."

 "We're a small used bookstore," noted Wayne, "most of the ideas we've received would cost us thousands of dollars and dozens of hours, or would have us provide our inventory to organizations that compete directly with used bookstores."

Check out their website. Its ridiculous. They make me really dislike them.

http://prosperosbookstore.com/

i just read the first page of the link... it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.  blech. their logic doesn't make sense to me, and they come across as greedy.

such a shame. even if the books are in poor condition.

If they really wanted more people to read, they would be willing to give away more books to get more people hooked on reading.

The whole thing was just a publicity stunt in the first place, from my point of view. They had thousands of offers to get rid of those books, and some of the offers were to go to very valid places. They didn't take anybody up on them and if I lived out there I would go buy a pint of tomatoes and throw them all over their windows (just not near the books)! And I'm not normally a nasty person!!!