Taking Back Books

By , September 1, 2011 4:12 pm

by Stina McClintock

In some offbeat library news, I was reading about a man who had been accused of stealing more than 400 books from his local library system. Apparently, the man, who lives in Oregon, was not planning on doing anything with these books except building his own home library collection.  What struck me the most about this story was not that someone had the nerve to steal from the library, but that the person in question was only 24-years old. The jaded person inside me thought: Really?  People his age still use the library?

It turns out the answer to this question is yes.  In an unnamed private school in an unnamed city (the reason for which you will realize in a moment), school officials released a list of books to be banned from the school library. The list includes titles such as Animal Farm, The Divine Comedy and, of course, Catcher in the Rye. One student, who after reading the list, decided they would run a library of these banned books out of their locker. The student then turned to the Internet to ask about the consequences, and while many cautioned that the student could get in trouble, they also applauded her efforts.

And confidential to the student who is running this underground library: you can always contact your local public law library if you have any questions about the law. Assuming you get caught, of course.

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