...to think that people who write in library books should be shot?

Or the oh-so-clever-ones who hide important text books in other parts of the library so no one else can use them?

You know the books that is on 400 people's reading lists and there is only one copy in the library.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr

Personally I reserved my ire for people who ripped pages out of books instead of having to go through the fag of photocopying the page. Calf-bound legal volumes dating back to the 50s at that - not books that are cheap or easy to replace.

Don't mind light pencil- I quite like seeing what people thought was interesting, bit like mumsnet for luddites- but biro is bad.

Joe Orton wouldn't have liked this thread, would he?

Problem is you can't do anything about pensioners, however much damage they do,unless you want to risk newspaper headlines like 'Council persecutes war-hero OAP over library book'

It is quite extraordinarily arrogant to write in library books!

Rustybear, the local library in the small coastal town where I grew up had a garrison of old ladies who would actually write their full name on either fly leaf or back page of the book, then write the numbers of the pages they got up to at subsequent readings. Gah!

At uni I preferred to incur the wrath of the gods of copy write, photocopied chapters that I needed to use then notated that instead of the books. Especially useful for short loan items.

Agnes

Oh MrsBadger, that drives me crazy, particularly when they are a different section to yourself and when you turn the page your eye is drawn to the wrong line

rustybear my grandma used to do that. She had to have large print books and couldn't get to the library herself to remember the plot so used to send my Grandad. So she would write her initials in the front. Quite a few of the other old dears did it. As a well brought up child I was slightly but you can understand the logic.

I'll match your people who write in library books and raise you people who use fluorescent highlighter to pick out their line in choral scores

all defilers of books should be made to pay. i nearly keeled over in shock when my OU tutor suggested i WRITE in the margins of my textbooks. i think i said something frosty about thats what post-it notes are for. but i know that i am a freak . that said i did once find a great history book on edward II with 'this book's rubbish - the king dies in the end' written on the title page. vandalism's OK if it's funny!

No! not abusing books!

Though I did once want to seek out and hug the person who had obviously done the same ssay as me and so had underlined all the important bits. Best mark I ever got on an essay that was!

Could you start a petition, saying 'keep people who write in books out of public libraries and other places where there are books also'.

or just go straight to

'shoot people who write in books'

I'm also a bit of a bed wetting shandy liberal ponce, so i'd only sighn if it was

'Inflict paper cuts on those who write or other wise mark books'.

i get annoyed if i see a book left spread open so that the spine is being damaged too.

Zippi
I would be a magnificent shot and I'm a librarian. I once chased a book thief down four flights of stairs and a busy road in the City to retrieve a text book he had stolen.
What about those kind souls who razor a vital article out of a journal?

they should be castrated so that in a couple of generations the world is rid of these disrespectful flouters of all that is decent and good.

unreasonable? no - i hate that too.

extreme? well, maybe just a little!

Sometimes you do know who it is - we used to have various people who would underline or circle a certain page number in a book, so that they would know that they'd read it (you'd kind of think they'd remember the story & if they didn't would it matter?)
We knew who most of them were but mostly they were pensioners - we'd say 'please don't do it' & they'd smile & say 'Oh, sorry' & short of getting out the sub-machine gun there wasn't much else we coud do....

I can't imagine librarians being very good shots

tbc, would still rather see writing in a library book that a bogey - what's that about?!

Message withdrawn

Was that as part of some form of community service, compo, or just goodwill on your part?

As for torture, reckon that anything involving the pen or pencil used to commit the offence is probably justifiable

We make em pay

I also get very cross about books coming back reeking of smoke and covered in wine/coffee rings (bit of an occupational hazard in a college library).

Folded corners .

Bookmarks people, use bloody bookmarks!

A scrap of paper, a piece of string, anything - just stop folding the sodding corners over!

Rant over. I thank you.