Library word for the day - Disbound

I was skimming through the LLMC newsletter and found the term disbound to describe what would less gently be said as tearing apart a book. Perhaps much to the publics knowledge this happens more often than you would think. As a librarian I have multiple duties that sometimes overlap and contradict each other. Applying this statement to disbound(ing) it goes something like this.

1. My job is to protect books, keep them from getting torn up and repairing them when they are.
2. My job is perserve the information for as long as possible which may mean "disbounding" a book to scan it into electronic or fiche format (which I don't do but is done by others).
3. My job is to provide information to patrons in an effective manner and be able to index it so it can actually be used efficiently. (If it takes forever to find something often a patron will give up and what use is having it if it takes two weeks to find it).

So the conundrum exists in "Do I tear up the book to .pdf it because the public will tear it up anyway and then it will be lost forever?" or do I "put on the gloves and eliminate pens and make it a super hassle for anyone to use the book".

My answer to this point has been that I don't "disbound" anything with historical significance or the only copy our library has. However, if it is younger and multiple copies I lean towards making the information much more usable to the public. What is a library?, is it a warehouse to store things never to be seen again (think Indiana Jones) or is it a place where learning and knowledge are to be shared? I lean to the later while keeping a mind on the former so it will also be there for future generations (and technologies to improve on how to save it).