I'll say it again, in even simpler language: folk music isn't attracting large numbers of talented, motivated people these days.

Times and tastes are different, and folk music is the road less travelled(which kind of makes one wonder if it really is "the people's music" after all), and it is pretty easy to feel like the last straggler on the road.

The folks who do show up, books in hand, equipped with nothing more than a desire to sing are all you're going to get. Sorry if you're better and more experienced than they are, sorry if you prefer to sing with better singers--sorry if they want to use a book, and you don't want them to.

Bottom line is, it isn't the books, it's just the way things work.