The Lodi Public Library is selling decades-old copies of Life magazine for 50 cents each. Library Services Director Nancy Martinez said a shortage of space has forced the sale. Some of the copies date back to 1940. (Chris Nichols/News-Sentinel)

Losing their shelf life

Lack of space: Lodi Library forced to sell old Life issues

Life magazine has captured images of the Cold War and '60s counterculture, of sports heroes and the stars above.

With its articles, photos and colorful advertisements, the magazine is a vivid record of our history.

Now, due to a lack of space, the Lodi Public Library is selling its collection of Life — which dates to at least 1940 — at 50 cents a piece.

"It's an amazing history — I just love it," said Linda Marty of Lodi, flipping through stacks of the several hundred magazines that remain at the bookstore inside the library.

"I can't believe they're not in a museum," she added.

For Marty, a 59-year-old educator and antique collector, memories of the Vietnam War protests, of civil rights marches and John Kennedy's assassination came rushing back as she scoured copies from her formative years.

She purchased five, among them a March 1965 copy showing Martin Luther King, Jr. marching to Selma, Ala., and a March 1968 edition with Jane Fonda wearing a futuristic, skin-tight outfit advertising the release of "Barbarella."

Library Services Director Nancy Martinez said she realizes there will be some who are critical of the sale. She noted, however, the library is not an archive and can't continue to accumulate items without clearing some out.

Linda Marty of Lodi scoured copies of Life magazine on sale Monday at the Lodi Public Library. (Chris Nichols/News-Sentinel)

Between its books, magazines, CDs, videotapes and other media, it has some 150,000 items already, she said. "There's other ways to get the information," Martinez added. She noted recent copies of Life, to roughly the 1980s, are available through EBSCO, an electronic database service that can be accessed through the library's Web site www.lodi.gov/library.

The library has microfilm copies of Life from 1950 to 1972, along with editions of Newsweek, Time and U.S. News and World Report back to the 20s and 30s, Martinez said.

It also has a 58-volume compilation set of Harper's magazines dating to 1850. Martinez said she may offer that leather-bound set, still in good condition, to another library or museum.

The city does not have a public archive, officials said.

City Clerk Randi Johl keeps hard copies of city ordinances and City Council minutes in a secured vault at City Hall. Some of those documents date to the city's founding in 1907, she said. Johl keeps paper copies of current ordinances and minutes for "historical purposes," even though she's only required to keep electronic versions of them, she said.

"The trend really is to go electronic with as much as you can because space is limited," Johl noted. "That's how most of the citizens are getting most of their information today, too. If they're looking for (city information), one click can bring it up."

Back at the library, magazines will stay onsite in the future for the current and previous years of magazines only, Martinez noted.

After that, they'll be sold, donated or tossed out.

Martinez said the upcoming library renovation won't provide more storage space. Instead, it will likely force staff to clear out some reference materials like old atlases and dictionaries.

The library will be under construction for at least four months, Martinez noted. A temporary library will offer a small collection of books and most services at a site that hasn't yet been chosen.

The library director said there have been few, if any, requests to view the old Life editions in recent years.

"There's a nostalgic thing," she acknowledged. "But you have to make these decisions."

Contact reporter Chris Nichols at chrisn@lodinews.com.