Scientology ACTUAL library numbers

[mark.tomles]

One of my good friends wrote this for Louanne's blog, as well as their
own (shameless plug) at scientologytruths.wordpress.com (the
counterpoint to scientology myths).

An illuminating look at the current popularity of scientology books:

"I have often asked scientologist difficult questions, only to be told
“go to your library, read a book!”. In fact, I’ve seen that many times
even on this site. I would like to ask some questions on this subject,
but would expect to hear the same.

However, I have been frequently frustrated by one simple fact:
libraries don’t seem to carry scientology books. What’s more, when I,
or another, points out the fact, we are met with derision and doubt.

So, I did some research, found out for myself, went to source.

I started with california, as that is the home state of scientology,
so I figured that it would be the most tolerent. I learned from
publiclibraries (dot) com, that there are 1,090 public libraries in
the state of california. So far, so good.
Next, I used the california public library catelog search at calcat
(dot) org to search for specific titles. The beauty of this site is
that it will show you how many libraries carry a particular book,
which was perfect for my research. Here’s what I found:

Out of 1,090 public libraries in california:

“What is Scientology?” Is carried by 71 libraries, or 6%
“Fundamentals of thought (1988)” Is carried by 58 libraries, or 5%
“Clear body, clear mind : the effective purification program” Is
carried by 64 libraries, or 6%
“Scientology : the fundamentals of thought (2007)” Is carried by 17
libraries= 1%
“Scientology an overview” Is carried by 42 libraries, or 4%
“An introduction to Scientology” Is carried by 45, or 4%
“Dianetics : the modern science of mental health” Is carried by 31
libraries, or 3%
“Introduction to Scientology Ethics” Is carried by 24 libraries, or
2%
“The way to happiness : a common sense guide to better living” Is
carried by 17 libraries, or 1%
“Scientology : a new slant on life” Is carried by 29 libraries, or 3%
“Science of survival : prediction of human behavior” Is carried by 21
libraries, or 2%
“The Scientology handbook” Is carried by 59 libraries, or 5%
“The creation of human ability : a handbook for Scientologists” Is
carried by 21 libraries, or 2%
“Have you lived before this life?” Is carried by 34 libraries, or 3%

On the other hand,

“Bare-faced messiah” is carried by 62 libraries, or 6%
“A piece of blue sky : Scientology, Dianetics, and L. Ron Hubbard
exposed” is carried by 31 libraries, or 3%
And they’re not sent to them for free :)

So you can see, saying “go to your library and get XXX book”, can
often mean quite a drive.

[Eldon]

Great research. Thanks for spending the time to do it.

[Tom Kruz]

On Nov 12, 11:12 am, "mark.tomles" <mark.tom...@gmail.com> wrote:

> "I have often asked scientologist difficult questions, only to be told
> “go to your library, read a book!”. In fact, I’ve seen that many times
> even on this site. I would like to ask some questions on this subject,
> but would expect to hear the same.

Thanks! I've archived this little diddy and saved off a local copy so
I can create a handout :)