Library Book Surprises - Cut Outs

[ChynaRose]

Seriously? Must you? Do you enjoy ruining things for everyone else?

I'm finally able to sit down with a copy of a manga volume I got out from the library a couple of days ago, and roughly about 20 pages in I discover that some prick decided to cut out half a page to do who knows what with. So now don't I get to read the manga I took out, I've got to hand it over to a librarian and let her know about the missing page part. This isn't the first time I've run into that kind of problem, and I *hate* when it happens because I always feel guilty turning in a book like that because I worry that the librarian(s) will think that I did that to the book and am lying about it 'being like that when I took it out'.

Luckily I'm fortunate that I'm going to my usual library where the librarians know me well enough to know that I wouldn't have been the one to do it.

Why couldn't who ever done that bought a copy of his own to cut up or just downloaded the pannel(s) they wanted off the internet to print out like everybody else.

[HYHYBT]

Worst comes to worst, there still are copy machines. But that's more trouble than destroying a library book

Perhaps... I don't know, is it possible it wasn't a matter of wanting the page, but of attempted censoring?

[ChynaRose]

I'm not sure what it would be that they would be censoring; it was the lower half of page 27/28 in the first volume of Hunter X Hunter.

[MrsEclipse]

I feel you

Once when I tried to read Fruits Basket I found I couldn't for two reasons: One, it just wasn't for me, and two, someone cut out people and faces like they were doing some sort of kindergarten collage.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Destroying a library book ought to carry the death sentence.

I know, extreme, but I just hate people who damage library books. -.- I remember several occasions where I got out a book from the library only to find that the last few pages had been torn out, or someone had childishly scribbled obscenities all over them. For fuck's sake, just GROW UP.

[HYHYBT]

It happens by accident... or, in the case of children's books, it may well happen without the parent's knowledge. I doubt most parents watch their kids all the time they're in possession of a book, and many wouldn't think to check inside for damage.

[IDrinkaRum]

I worked as a library page many eons ago (before my reaction to library book dust grew to epic proportions).

You will not believe the amount of books we either had to put on "mending" status (which meant re-gluing of the spines to completely trashing the book out of the system - which was done by the librarians). We could tape pages back together, but otherwise, we couldn't mend them.

A lot of the books weren't children's books neither. They were the adult books. Made us pages mad.

[Lace Neil Singer]

^This. I'm not talking about kids books, but adult books; and I would hope that small children wouldn't know the kind of obscenities I used to sometimes find inside library books.

[Sleepwalker]

Now I'm thankful the worst I have found is some loose bindings. People are crap. ;(

[Ginger Tea]

I am reminded of the Hancocks Half Hour on "the last page" (or if it wasnt HHH it was still Tony Hancock), the murder mystery he was reading transpired to have been never finished, but as it was a library book, he ranted and raved about not knowing who dunnit cos of someone using the page to light a fire or one of many other ideas.

but defacing a book cos you dont agree with it, especially Manga as it's visual and easier to find 'objectionable' pages, no, not if it's not your property.
Libraries should then find out who had the book last and fine them, assuming the returnee didn't deface it and blame it as being there already.

Off topic but on topic in a way.
A Nivarna Tshirt some times back (late 90's) had Kurbain on a crusifix (or so I'm told) and someone returned the shirt to the shop cos it had 'ripped' at that part of the image.
Shop keeper was dubious that it should rip there, on the crucifixion image, but told me that other shirts came back with similar faults, it wasn't the GF of the first shopper defacing his shirt, it was every shirt sold being defective.

[HYHYBT]

Libraries should then find out who had the book last and fine them, assuming the returnee didn't deface it and blame it as being there already.

...and in the same sentence, you've hit on part of why that doesn't work.

Some people will damage a book and then claim it was like that when they checked it out. Some people will return books they discover to be damaged without saying anything, either because they think they'll be charged for them, or because they're in a hurry and just want to drop them in the box, or because they think the librarians will notice before reshelving it, or any number of other reasons. Some people will damage books in the library itself and stick them back on the shelf. You also don't want people afraid to return books because they've been dropped one time too many and knocked the spine loose or anything like that.

Short of thorough inspection every time a book is returned and every time one is checked out, something akin to what's done with U-Haul trucks, or else happening to witness the damage or the vandal being stupid enough to sign their name, you just don't know for certain. And charging people in error just drives them away from the library entirely, besides being wrong anyway.

[wolfie]

Back when I was in high school, I signed out (public library) a book of electronic projects, and found out that someone had ripped out a page with the circuit diagram for what sounded like an interesting project.

Some people might consider what I did in this circumstance to be "six sigmas left of strange" - I checked the card catalogue to see what other branches had copies of this book, and when the damaged book was due back I went to the other branch that had a copy in order to return it. I showed the damage to the librarian, explained that the system showed they had another copy, then went and got it off the shelf. That copy was intact, librarian photocopied both sides of the page in question, and (presumably) sent the copies and the damaged book to the repair department.

[Tanasi]

A couple of years ago I bought a book off of eBay and when it arrived it was very obvious that it was a library book. I looked up the phone number of the library and called them to tell them I had the book and would return it. The nice lady asked if it had some sort of stripe or something on the dust jacket and I looked at it and it did. She said it had been sold and it was OK.
Growing up I was taught that books are precious things and you should take very good care of them. It really bothers me to dispose of old books to the point I'll just make a pile of what needs to go and then my wife gets rid of them. She tells me she donated them to the county library. I don't know if she does so or not I know I miss some of them. It's almost like loosing a friend.

[HYHYBT]

That reminds me of something a bit embarrassing. Last year,
Mom moved. Or, rather, we moved her. She doesn't get around well enough to do much packing and sorting much, much less loading the truck, so family did it, scheduling a long weekend when we all could get together, renting a U-Haul, etc. That Friday morning, Mom was put in the hospital... and there wasn't time to put anything off. So we got to sort through her stuff without her there. Some things went to the dump that shouldn't... and some got donated to the church that shouldn't, including a box of books that had been checked out from the library.

(Still, all things considered, we did pretty well.)