I think it’s time for one of our periodical clear-outs

Serious academic titles such as New Scientist and Nature share the floor with the Jazz Journal, Yorkshire Life and the Dalesman, while some of the publications are clearly for the avid collector, like Coin News and Stamp Monthly.

Despite their eclectic nature, all the publications have one thing in common – they are no longer part of the collection at Doncaster Central Library, after reference manager Chris Zagraba decided it was time for an early spring clean.

Flicking through the pages of some of the tens of thousands of journals up for grabs gives an idea of how much the world has changed since some of the articles were written – and how some worries have always been the same.

A copy of Motor magazine from the 1980s contains an article about the rising price of petrol, while a 1970 edition of Nature, which cost subscribers five shillings, contains concerns about the risk of X-rays from colour television sets.

Another, Yorkshire Life from April 1965, which cost two shillings and sixpence, details the life of an entertainer who played the county’s working men’s club circuit at a time when the venues were booming and there were 370 in Doncaster alone.

Ms Zagraba expects a lot of interest in some of the journals from enthusiasts hoping to complete their collections, while others, which have probably never been touched for years, may remain unloved and eventually end up in a skip.

The librarian, who has spent 30 years working for the Doncaster library service said: “We realised that we had a rather large collection of periodicals and we had to ask ourselves whether they were still relevant and what people still wanted.

“Now instead of keeping five or 10 years’ worth of back copies, we are only going to keep two years because it was a bit ridiculous just having these things sitting around when we didn’t really have space to keep them.

“We expect the ones about the railways to attract the most attention, because there is a big railway enthusiast community here in Doncaster, but some of them may not be of interest to anybody, which will be a real shame.

“As well as making a bit of money for the libraries, we want to make sure as many of these things go to a good home rather than ending up in a skip, or being recycled or sent to landfill.”

Ms Zagraba said it had taken her team around three months to sort through all the publications in the cellars at the library and as well as the journals, some extremely old books have been found, which will also be sold.

One, a leather bound volume entitled The History of England During the Reigns of the Royal House of Stuart, was published in 1730 and bears the stamp of the Doncaster Free Library, with the date of acquisition stated as 1869.

Some publications relating to the coal industry have been donated to the National Coal Mining Museum, near Wakefield, while journals which relate to Doncaster have been deposited in the town’s local studies library.

Ironically, one of the publications for sale is a New Statesman from October 1966 which talks of “big electronic stores of information, accessible to anyone on the end of a telephone wire”.

To most people, that would sound like someone predicting the rise of the internet, an innovation which has meant that many no longer bother to browse in their local library.

But some people still do, and for now, Ms Zagraba will still be ordering titles like the British Medical Journal, Amateur Photographer and Autocar for her loyal readers. As for the obsolete copies of Gramophone, they will be for sale next Saturday and Monday on a first come, first served basis, with prices starting at £1.

THOUSANDS of copies of journals and periodicals dating back to the 19th century will be available to buy at the sale.

The titles include: Art Quarterly 1990 to 2009 Butterworths Local Government Reports 1933 to 1980 Classical Numismatic Review 1969 to 1999 Country Life 1974 to 2009. The Dalesman 1974 to 2010. Engineering 1968 to 2009. Gramophone 1952 to 2007. National Geographic 1935 to 2005. Nature from 1952 to 2009. New Scientist 1957 to 2005. Notes and Queries 1849 to 2009. Proceedings of the Institute Civil Engineers 1881 to 2003. Railway Modeller 1974 to 2008. Railway World 1958 to 2003.