Who said anything about throwing books away?

Beyond copyright (which isn't an issue for the initial focus of the scanning, public domain works), and speculation about possible damage to books from the scanning process, the biggest criticism of Google's proposal to scan hundreds of thousands of books from several major university libraries seems to be that the files Google creates may become obsolete.

Another crucial concern is the well-being of the books themselves. Google has developed a scanning technology that the company claims is not destructive. Clearly, Google will need to work closely with libraries to ensure that no books are damaged. It is an illusion to think that the digital versions of scanned books can replace the books themselves.

A participating library will get a free digital copy of every book scanned in its collection. In other words, each library will essentially get a digital backup of a significant portion of its holdings, but it will be critical to remember that printed books are a stable medium, one that has persisted for hundreds of years.

Digital technology is only a few years old, and even in that brief time, the digital world has produced dozens of incompatible, and often unreadable, media formats. The Google project will enhance the usefulness of the books it encompasses, but it in no way will render them obsolete.

Because, as the Detroit Public Library proved, no self-respecting librarian would dispose of thousands upon thousands of books, discarding them (including some rare books, scavenged by collectors) unceremoniously into dumpsters, to free up shelf space. Couldn't happen. Books are forever.