Hundreds of books found discarded in dumpster outside Lake View High School

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A free book frenzy erupted outside Lake View High School Wednesday night.

What appeared to be hundreds of books were tossed in a dumpster behind the school, 4015 N. Ashland Ave.

The discarded books included everything from textbooks to classic works of fiction, poetry, and drama. In a social media photo, a copy each of August Wilson's "Fences," Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire," and Arthur Miller's "the Crucible" were seen in the dumpster near a cardboard box hand-marked "drama."

Also spotted were a volume of the poetry of Robert Frost, and at least four copies of Michelle Obama's memoir "Becoming."

Many took to social media to express their disappointment that the books were not donated.

Principal Paul Karafiol released a statement saying this "annual process is called weeding." He said "weeding" ensures the school removes materials in poor conditions or containing inaccurate or dated information. 

"It has come to my attention that some materials may have been accidentally removed during this process," Karafiol said. "Your students deserve a world-class education at LVHS, and I will be investigating this situation to ensure that it does not happen again. I will also be meeting with our staff to ensure that everyone is aware of the District's guidelines for weeding." 

One parent said she found important documents in the dumpster, personal information that should have been shredded. 

"These are IEPs, they are Individual Educational Plans that have this person's student ID, his name all the info, I mean I'm not looking through it, all the medical stuff," Janice Gork told CBS 2. "There's no excuse for this. These documents should have never left a nurse's hand."