Plastic grocery bags

In Instance: 8:16, Robert Milevski writes:

>Beginning immediately, the Preservation Office will become the drop off
>point for your clean and dry plastic grocery bags.  We will store the
>bags and recycle them to the circulation desk for distribution to
>library users who charge out books when it is raining or snowing
>outside.

How often are bags recycled?  In my experience recycling the bags for
purposes other than protecting books on rainy days, I've noticed that
the local grocer's plastic bags are now biodegradable, even in darkness,
and apparently within two weeks of "acquisition".  These bags become
weak and develop holes.  ...not the kind of thing that would save a book
the tortures of (Florida's) rain or support, for long, the weight of a
book.     --I think Robert's idea is great though: finding funds or a
donor has not been as easy as a trip to the grocery store.

Erich J. Kesse
Preservation Office
University of Florida Libraries
904-392-6962
Fax: 904-392-7251

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 8:22
               Distributed: Wednesday, September 28, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-8-22-004
                                  ***