The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-10-14
VANDA[S IN LIBRARY
How Pilfering Patrons Destroy the
Public Books,
THE WET STRING METHOD

AL w A4 - ANAiN ~ 49, - -
CUNNING DEVICE FOR LIFTING
WHOLE PAGES.
Costly. Plates Are Cut Out and Ex-
pensive Works Destroy sd-Books
(. Also Damaged By Absent-minded
Mischief-makers- of More
Room For the Library.
Bookworms and bookbeettes are the
terror of, libraries where there are
many old and infrequently used vol
umes, but human bookworms, vandals
who annotate, tear out leaves, cut out
pictures and otherwise mutilate the
books, are more dreaded by the care
takers of the Salt Lake public library.
Miss ANNE Chapman, city librarian,
states that the people who mutilate
books wilfully or through carelessness
cause the city no small expense each
year. There is a state law imposing a
! fine of $50 Tor such practices, but as it
! Is next to impossible to catch them, the
! law is a dead letter They mark and
! unGerScore passages which please them
/ or Scrawl their objections on the mar
gin, or note things which they believe
are inaccurately or wrongly stated,
some even going so far as to poke fun
at the authors in their marginal notes.
! These markings, especially if written
in ink or indelible pencil, as is fire.
quently the case. disfigure the book,
and sometimes practically destroy it's
I value.
Cut Out Whole Pages.
But we could stand it if they went
no farther than that, but they do. Ere
quently we find whole pages cut from
magazines or pictures from books. The
most exasperating deed of vandalism
we have yet discovered however, was
accomplished recently. Someone whose
Identity we have been unable to as
certain took ont valuable scientific
work costing us $40, and when one of
our staff looked over it few days ago
1t was discovered that the entire set
of plates had been cut out. This practi-
cally renders the work valueless, as
the plates are constantly referred to in
the text, and the book is of no use to
anyone now the plates are gone"
L lie QIdUOliCdl VI SNHllt VI Tic
wretches who have been cutting UP the
books OF the library is described by
one of the library employees who has
studied their methods in the hope of
catching them redhanded.
How They Do It.
1T is so quiet in the library most
of the time that any noise such as
would be made by tearing or cutting
out a leaf would be distinctly audible
to the one in charge. So the thief
adopts a new and ingenious method to
accomplish his purpose. He has bit
of string in his mouth when he comes
into the library, and after obtaining
his book he takes a seat in a remote
corner with his back to the desk. While
bending over the volume, apparently
deeply absorbed, he deftly takes the
wet string from his mouth, stretches it
lengthwise along the page next the
binding and closes the book upon it.
The page can be lifted" in a moment
or two without the slightest noise"
Entire articles are frequently cut out
of magazines by visitors, and it is only
a too common occurrence to find page !
or a chapter containing some interest !
ing episode missing from book. The
late novels, many of which are embel- !
lished with exquisite engraVingS, ire !
quently in colors, by the most noted
artists are n circulation but few
weeks ere the illustrations one by one
disappear
Innocent Destruction.
Besides the deliberate vandals and |
thieves who take books out only that I
they may steal therefrom, there are !
many innocent but careless book Dor
rowers who do much damage to the
volumes they read out of absent mind
edness or ignorance. A little girl was
seen nibbling the end of a book one day,
Just as a rabbit nips at a cabbage. Her
eyes We're far away in romance land,
for she had just concluded a thrilling
love story, and was doubtless dreaming
of the happy lot of its fortunate hero
inc. She was quite unconscious of the
injury she was doing to the book In /
her hand, but-it had to go to the hos
pital' just the same.
Need More Room
Miss Chapman says that public inter
est in the library is growing so rapidly
that the quarters now occupied are lar
too small. More room has been applied
for. and the board of library directors
has laid the matter before the city
council Among the pressing needs OF
the library are a reference room for
workers and a writing room. MISS
Chapman wants the two rooms on the
north now occupied by City Recorder
Backman, and as Mr.. Backman IS
quite willing to move, it is likely that
these rooms will be secured.
The daily attendance at the library
has increased largely of late, and as.
winter approaches it will continue to
grow. From $50 to 400 people visit the
reading room daily and there is not
nearly enough room for them. The list
of book borrowers is increasing also. 1t
numbers now 6,4S6 Last month us
for cards were presented,
and there were many more received
which had to be put upon waiting
list. owing to a scarcity of books. Five
thousand and three hundred books were
taken out during the month of Septem-
Der. The popularity of American writ
ers seems to be increasing, and about
40 per cent of the books read are the
work of American fiction writer's.
During September eighty-seven new
books were added to the library, and
eighty-five have already been received
this month.
Library Acquisitions.
The following thirteen volumes were
Yesterday added to the public library's
Burnham-"A Great Love-
Carrutr-"Those Dale Girls" Guve-
nile).
MISUNDERSTANDING onnicastle.
Kirk-"Daughter of Eve" Dorothy
Deane,' Sons and Daughters" 0uve-
nile).
s4e,.x IF TO