10 Strangest Things Ever to Happen In a Library

10 Strangest Things Ever to Happen In a Library
10 Strangest Things Ever to Happen In a Library
Most college students use the library for studying or sleeping, but the people on this list had other ideas. Some of them were committing harmless pranks, and some were just animals looking to start a new life. Whatever the cause, they all wound up doing some very strange things in libraries. Next time you head for stacks, keep an eye out for stuff like this:
Naked Cheese Man: The headline from Cincinnati’s WKRC says it best: "Naked Man Arrested At Library With Stolen Cheese." So many questions come to mind: Why was he naked? Why did he have cheese? Why were both of things necessary for him to make the library trip? What’s more, he was armed with stolen knives at the time of his arrest at the main branch of the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Public Library. The man, who is homeless, had a history of bizarre thefts and was ordered to stay away from the library before the day he was found naked and bathing in the men’s restroom.
The Condiment Vandal: Idaho police recently arrested a 74-year-old woman for befouling a library in an unusual way: She had repeatedly dumped mayonnaise, ketchup, and maple and corn syrup into the book drop of a Boise library. Cops also said she was a "person of interest" in several other "condiment-related incidents" at the library over the previous year.
In Need of Relief: In another Ohio-based story, a man was arrested recently for urinating on books in the public library. It seems he’d had three beers and needed to relieve himself of some pressure, so he let flow on some books in the downtown Cincinnati library and caused almost $600 in damages. Honestly, what’s in the water in Cincinnati?
The Masked Bandit: Earlier this summer, a raccoon decided to take a field trip to the Brooklyn Public Library. He was found exploring the lower level of the building, which is used to store older volumes and those that don’t circulate often. Animal Control officials set traps, but the little guy remained elusive and didn’t reappear. Maybe he got a Kindle.
The Hair Banner: In 2007, the Baker-Berry Library at Dartmouth College hung a massive banner in its foyer. The kicker: It was made of 420 pounds of human hair. The banner measured 80 feet by 13 feet and required, no kidding, the hair collected from 42,000 haircuts from Dartmouth faculty and students as well as local residents.
The Cat in the Stacks: The Spencer Public Library in Iowa was home for a while to a famous feline resident: Dewey Readmore Books, a cat who was found abandoned in the book return in 1988. He was rescued by the library director and lived at the building until his death in 2006, attracting numerous visitors during his time there and inspiring the woman who’d saved him to turn him into a literary hero in his own right. How many libraries can boast their own mascot-turned-best-selling character?
Stay Away: University of Arizona students put up with a strange and unfortunate series of lewd happenings a few years ago when a number of men masturbated in public. Depressingly, this kind of thing seems to be common nationwide on a small but regular basis.
Rave On: In spring 2009, students at a variety of universities used social networking to coordinate "flash raves," basically impromptu parties that sprung up with no warning. The twist is they did it in their campus libraries. Some of the parties weren’t so fun: The one at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga ended with cops using pepper spray on some students, though other schools fared better. Students jammed as much partying as possible into their spontaneous parties before authorities ended it.
That’s One Huge Fine: We’ve all dealt with late fees for books that didn’t get returned to the library by their due date. They’re usually just a few cents per day and easy to pay, and we usually get the books turned in within a few days (or in rare cases weeks) after they’re due. But a Massachusetts man beat all comers last year with what has to be the strangest return story in New Bedford Public Library history. He turned in a book 99 years — you read that right — after it was due. Facts I Ought to Know About the Government of My Country was supposed to be turned in on May 10, 1910, but never made it there. The man who returned it found it among his recently deceased mother’s possessions and decided to return it. The library waived the late fee — by then about $360 — and displayed the book as a historical artifact.
Who You Gonna Call?: The comedy group Improv Everywhere specializes in guerilla theater, performing sketches in front of an unsuspecting public. (Star Wars Subway Car is a personal favorite.) Earlier this year, they sent a team to the New York Public Library to re-create the classic encounter scene from Ghostbusters. It starts slow but builds to a hilarious end. Definitely something you don’t see every day:

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