Lấy cắp sách của thư viện là một hành vi không thể chấp nhận

"For him that stealeth a book from this library,

let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him".

Stealing items from a public library is akin to pilfering from the church offering plate. The thief is stealing from everyone who benefits from that organization, not just one person. When people steal from the public library, they are stealing from their fellow taxpayers, students, families, senior citizens and everyone who might like to read that particular book. It means the library has a few less dollars to spend on the purchase of a magazine subscription or another book if it has to replace stolen items.

Such thefts make no sense considering all the person has to do is apply for a library card, borrow the item and return it within a reasonable period of time. We don't understand why that concept is so difficult to grasp.

With the price of hardcover books running $20 to $40, the theft of just a few items a year has an impact on the library's bottom line. Oftentimes, there simply isn't money to replace those books, especially if they are rare or out-of-print.

The budgets of public libraries have not kept up with inflation or usage. Some might think the days of the public library are numbered thanks to the advent of the Internet, but they would be wrong. In fact, a 2002 survey showed just the opposite, with a full 66 percent of Americans using a public library at least once in 2001. Of those users, 42 percent were between the ages of 25 and 44 and only half had children under 18 living at home.

The survey by the American Library Association also revealed that library use increases during times of economic difficulty, not surprising, although it does provide a clue as to the role libraries play in fulfilling people's need for information.

Forty-one percent of users had annual household incomes of less than $50,000, meaning that those who can least afford to buy books and compact discs themselves have free access to these items through their local public libraries. The founders of this country decided a long time ago that wealth should not determine access to education and that includes libraries.

So the next time you visit the library and are tempted to take something that belongs to all of us, think again, for you would be depriving someone else of the pleasure of enjoying that same item.

Source: The Daily Mining Gazette