April 28, 2005

Young witches make books disappear . . .

by

For those wondering what books kids in New Zealand are stealing from the public libraries, the answer is: “Books of Nazi insignia, or about heavy metal rockers,” according to an article from the Manawatu Standard by Mervyn Dykes. Also, “Anything featuring rocker-suicide Kurt Cobain is likely to disappear quickly from the open shelves.” At the Palmerston North Library, nonficiton librarian Barbara Yeoman says magazines about cars, especially Hot Rod and Fine Scale Modeller, “are likely to be clipped and cut, or vanish” if they are put out on the open shelves. Yeoman also says “dog breeders and people interested in pit bulls can be a shady lot too.” But the biggest worry right now is “books about witchcraft and the occult.” Library’s have found, says Yeoman, that “would-be witches tend to clip books and magazines, or else ‘forget’ to return them.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.

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