PRACTICAL
N G O K U B O N A K A L AYO
ROELDA BROWN
Librarian, Koeberg Library
Vandalism is the deliberate destruction of something
useful or beautiful, especially
public property.
A vandal is someone who
damages something useful or
beautiful on purpose and for
no good reason.
T
books transformed into art. In 2001,
San Francisco Public Library staff began finding vandalised books shoved
under shelves and hidden throughout
the main library. Ultimately over 600
torn and sliced books on gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender topics,
women’s issues and HIV/AIDS were
withdrawn from the library’s collection. Instead of discarding them, the
damaged books were distributed to
interested community members in
the hope of creating art. This resulted in Reversing Vandalism, an exhibition of over 200 original works of art,
which were displayed in the main library from
31 January through to May 2004. The project
generated unprecedented and unforeseen community involvement and an act of hatred was
turned into one of healing. Although the motivation and circumstances in this case differ widely
from the casual and random acts of vandalism
public libraries have to endure, one cannot help
but wonder whether these acts cannot be prevented with more effort and involvement on the
part of the community.
In the 13 years that I have been at Koeberg
Library, this is our third display of damaged
books. The reaction we receive from our
patrons every time is more than satisfying,
but the simple fact of having to repeat
these displays makes it clear that the
need remains. Solutions and remedies
for the problem are as elusive as ever.
I have always believed that a library
service should be provided free of
charge. Books, and access to them, are
as essential to me as oxygen. A library
ticket is the key to opening the door to
many things: information and education
being two of them. It provides entry to
a world filled with imagination, passion
and wisdom. Something should be done,
however, to make people aware of the
privilege and responsibility that comes
with the ownership of a library card.
Book
cemetery
hese are the definitions I
found in the Collins Cobuild English
Language Dictionary. Whether one
could actually apply these terms to library
users is another question. When I look at the
sad collection of damaged material currently
on display in our library, it is clear to me that
words like carelessness, indifference, slovenliness and arrogance would also be applicable.
Why else would one use a yellow highlighter
to emphasise certain passages in an NP van
Wyk Louw biography, tear pages containing
favourite recipes out of recipe books, underline paragraph after paragraph in junior nonfiction books or spill food and drink all
over a brand-new bestseller?
We all know why coloured pictures
are cut out of non-fiction or reference works and can only hope that the
teacher who marks the final project is
not too tired or too jaded to condone
the action. That brings us to another
question, however: when will the madness surrounding school projects end
and how far will it be allowed to go
before it does? Those of us in the
library profession know all too well of
the mothers who work so hard to hand
in the perfect project, who beg to be
allowed to borrow a reference work or
pamphlet for an hour so that coloured
copies can be made somewhere else. How
do the children who actually have to do the
work themselves and who do not have the
financial resources for colour copies, compete
with the rest? These are matters for the Department of Education to resolve, but many
library books and pamphlet collections could
be protected against damage if a clear and
firm policy were put in place.
That would still leave us, of course, with the
self-appointed censors and critics - those selfrighteous souls who use a black pen to delete
any swear words or blasphemies in a text. As
for the critics, what an ego it must take to air
one’s opinion of a book in such a public way.
Absolute crap! Enjoy!, scribbled in one of our
large print books. I can only presume that
enjoy was meant in a sarcastic way. Is it really
too much trouble to wipe the plastic cover
of a book before returning it or is that just
another indication of the public perception
and opinion of library staff: as only shelf
stackers and clerical workers?
Yet, every patron who walks past our display stops and exclaims in dismay and horror.
One notices that they would like very much
to blame the children and the parents, but
those arguments fall flat when they realise
that more than half the items belong to the
adult section - paperbacks that had been
carelessly folded double so that the spines
cracked and the books split open, pages
stained with food, covers sticky with some
unknown substance. The book returned
stained and reeking strongly of brandy could
not help but raise a wry smile from the staff.
When one tries to research book vandalism, one finds pitifully little information.
There are no pages filled with statistics
or reports of prosecutions. One
reads that vandalism, like stalking, is
regarded as a description rather
than a legal concept. Tucked
away under the heading Religious
Studies at the University of Kent, I
found a short article called A plea
for the proper treatment of library
books. More interesting is another article called Reversing vandalism, destroyed
Reference
http://sfpl.org/news/onlineexhibits/rv/
Something should be
done, to make people aware of the
privilege and responsibility
that comes with the ownership
of a library card
Cape Libr., Sept/Oct 2007
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