New This Week
January 5, 2010
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Unfortunately, the holidays resulted in no new arrival list this week. Rest assured, it will return next week. Until then, here is the year in review:
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
2009 turned out to be another fascinating year for libraries. Every child’s nightmare came true when Heidi Dalibor, a 20-year-old Wisconsin resident"was arrested and thrown in jail for having just two library books overdue. After forgetting to return the paperback copies of ANGELS AND DEMONS and WHITE OLEANDER, Dalibor"who ignored all notices and fines"was handcuffed, fingerprinted, and booked for her ‘failure to return library materials’ theft charge. She quickly paid her $170 fine and was released, stating “Now I am keeping the books.”
Across the Atlantic, the British Library also had one of its patrons arrested. 60-year-old Farhad Hakimzadeh"an Iranian academic, publisher and millionaire"vandalized over 150 priceless books, many dating back to the 16th century. Hakimzadeh has been sentenced to two years jail time, and owes the British Library well over half a million dollars.
The British Library also discovered it has “misplaced” 9000 books. With 14 million books resting on 650 kilometers of shelving, this is perhaps understandable. They also spend $140,000 on PAROLE IN LIBERTA FUTURISTE, the first manifesto of the Italian Futurist Movement, written by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in 1908. Not only is this unique book printed entirely on tin, but it also demands destruction of all libraries.
While calling for their destruction the officials at Cushing Academy"a New England prep school"has abolished theirs. Believing books to be “an outdated technology, like scrolls,” they have removed all printe4d material from their campus. Big-screen TVs, laptops, and digital readers now surround the library’s reference desk (which has also been replaced with a $12, 000 cappuccino machine). If this appears ridiculous, it is. The workforce, colleges, and universities are not going to be kind to applicants unfamiliar with books. Oddly enough, this was once tried before by Hampshire College in Massachusetts in the the 1960s. It didn’t work their either.
Another weird event took place at the Library of Congress. Historian Timothy W. Ryback stumbled across an unclassified crate of books, which turned out to be Hitler’s personal library. Even though Ryback felt touching the books was akin to “shaking the hand” of a man better known for burning books than reading them (Cushing Academy take note), he was most unnerved when"upon opening a Berlin guidebook"one of Hitler’s moustache hairs fell onto his lap.
After 110 years of being overdue, a copy of WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY was finally returned to the Lyn Public Library in Brockville, Ontario. Happy to have the book back, the library waived the $9,000 late fees.
Of course THE library story of the year is that of seven-year-old Dominic Philip of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Dominic loves to read, loves his library, and was honored be being asked to lead the library’s summer reading parade. A photo of Dominic happily blowing into a kazoo made the local paper. This led to a concerned citizen leaving an anonymous message on the library’s phone system, stating that Dominic’s family lives outside the city boundaries, and is therefore not entitled to use the library. So even though he proudly led their parade, the library stripped Dominic of his treasured library card, leaving the young boy confused and in tears. Political satirist and TV host Stephen Colbert took up Dominic’s cause, humorously profiling him as a hardened criminal who got what he deserved. “I’d say throw the book at that kid,” Colbert told his 2 million viewers, “but he would just read it.” Realizing how absurd they look on National TV, the library reinstated Dominic’s privileges (though only until the end of the year).
