Perhaps some of them will finally be returned to library service in another city. What happened in San Francisco may have been arrant stupidity, but a greater hazard threatens. Books, you see, are inefficient. Putting books' data on magnetical media is folly, because they are vulnerable to a host of hazards. Putting them on compact discs is better, but takes a lot of time.
Time costs money, and money comes out of budgets.
Tyrants have always controlled people best by limiting their information, and budgetary constraints provide marvellous pretexts for excluding dissidents' books and periodicals. I once worked for a textbook publisher that also makes, sells, and grades standardized tests. Working with many others in large rooms, I graded essay tests. During a slack period, our bosses trained us on the company's editing manual. This manual proscribed different styles of treatment.