Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers

As I was browsing the internet this morning, a thought occurred to me regarding libraries and the phenomenon of thefts from them. Most of us enjoy the extensive choice of genres, reference resources and visual media options our libraries give us, however there are a startling amount of these items stolen. Furthermore the topics stolen change from region to region – that is the interesting and puzzling part. As you can see from these two articles, subject matter is area specific.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/U-S-libraries-checking-out-book-theft-2921164.php

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/01/the-secret-life-of-libraries

Of course, some books are taken because of their rare or significant historical value – these thefts deprive future generations to enjoy and witness the words of our great scholars and philosophers. There is an underground world of book thieves. See this article:

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/01/the-peculiar-underworld-of-rare-book-thieves.html

Library of Congress holds 29 million books and is the largest in the world.

Quotes:

So today’s prompt is: If you could own any book on earth, what would it be and why?