Concerning the age-old custom in the month of Sivan (April) of storing worn Torah scrolls and printed books, and escorting them from town to the cemetery to be buried with song and piyut, whether there is any basis for this custom…
I have not seen anything written in books concerning the custom of escorting them with song and piyut, yet in the place of my birth, in Meknes, an important Jewish town, may G-d protect it, the custom was indeed to escort them to burial to the sound of much singing. I've heard that this was also the custom in several cities of the Maghreb and here, in Tlemcen, as well, the custom on the day of geniza is to hold a small festive meal…since the reason that the scrolls are worn is the extensive amount of study for which we have used them, and therefore at the sight of worn scrolls and pages, which shows how much Torah study there is in the city, we sing and rejoice at having studied so much Torah.