(no subject)

[owlectomy]

There is a certain class of books that ends up being disproportionately stolen or missing from public libraries. (Maybe I shouldn't even use the word "stolen," because that implies forethought and malice that aren't necessarily present -- books that ends up borrowed and never get returned for whatever reason.)

Some of them are outright conspiracy theory books; some of them are books that summon up a lot of not-quite-relevant research to advance some theory that seems very unlikely; some of them are reasonably legit-ish books about US government collaboration with Nazis and fascists and that sort of thing, which, well, clearly the US government has done a lot of questionable and secret stuff even if it doesn't always match up with what conspiracy theorists say.

Problem is, because these books end up missing so often, they're the books that end up being "library use only" or "no copies available."

Which looks a lot like a conspiracy to keep these books hidden from people. If you're the sort of person who believes that sort of thing.

So when I have to tell people that a particular book is not available, I do tend to get the OH REALLY I WONDER WHY reaction.

(The same is true, incidentally, of those Kevin Trudeau "cures your doctor doesn't want you to know about" books that were briefly popular before everyone realized he was just lying. Some people didn't get the memo.)

Comments

[oursin]

This is at least one of the reasons why the Naughty Books About Sex are kept in Cupboard (British Library) or L'Enfer (Bibliotheque Nationale) or The Librarian's Office, and read under the eye of the desk person: because people will otherwise steal them or mutilate them.

[laughingrat]

Ugggggggh, yes. We have such a tame population at our library though that even our copy of The Anarchist's Cookbook rests peacefully in the ref aisle, easily stolen but never molested. Ha!

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

Well, all that means is just that the conspirators are too sneaky to come in uniform with guns to burn the books. They just check them out and don't return them.