[DrDeese]

Why don't they just put the pdf versions on Internet Archives? Then they would at least be preserved for the future

[darkoob12]

Why don't they rebind them and put it back in some library? They don't have to throw it out.

[XorNot]

Because legally then it's a copy and not a format conversion.

This story has a lot of details left out and is a magnet for illinformed commentators: the reason the originals are destroyed is because it is legal to do so for the purposes of format conversion, but not legal to retain the originals under copyright law.

[pfdietz]

That would be illegal.