Stealing from a library.  Whether you walk out of the door with something hidden in a bag or you borrow something and never bring it back, it's stealing. And evidently, a large number of people seem to think, “It's just the library,” so it's okay to take what doesn't belong to them. Similarly, lots of people seem to think it's okay to abuse library materials, to treat things carelessly and damage materials without taking responsibility.
Here are some of the excuses we hear regularly or can suppose people are thinking:
•    Libraries get everything for free don't they? So if I keep this book, DVD, music CD, magazine, it doesn't hurt anybody.
•    I'm taking and keeping this library item because no one will notice it's gone, no one else wants to read it, watch it, listen to it besides me.
•    I'm taking this library item because I can't afford to buy it.
•    I checked this library item out, so I can keep it for as long as I want.
•    It doesn't matter if I return library materials in damaged condition, the library will just get another. 
•    I borrowed this library item, but it's not my fault that it now has ___ (fill in the blank: coffee stains, food stains, been chewed by a dog, been dropped in a puddle, been left in the sun to warp, etc.). I'm not going to pay for the damage done.
Let me set the record straight. Libraries pay for almost everything you find on the shelves. Some library items are donated by individuals, but publishers and media companies don't just send books, magazines, and DVDs to us because we're libraries. Libraries do get some discounts; however, they aren't drastically less than the discounts everyone gets. And libraries definitely pay when we have to replace items that are lost or damaged, because we cannot count on having that same title donated.
So who gets hurt when someone steals from a library? It hurts everyone who might have wanted that item who now cannot get it. One book, magazine, or movie might get checked out 20-40 times in one year, and we might own that item for several years. When something disappears or is damaged, we must choose between replacing it and buying something new. Either way, the community itself loses an item. 
The worst offense is to borrow an Interlibrary Loan from outside the county and never return it. A number of times a local library has delivered an ILL to a local resident, but the item never comes back and after repeated efforts we cannot track down the individual. Not only does the library have to pay for those missing items, but it's money spent on something we never did own, nor likely ever will.
To those who respect the library's materials, who return things, and treat things with care, I offer my thanks on behalf of everyone else who uses libraries. To those who simply take from the library without regard for others, I would ask that you think again. As it says in a Spanish monastery: “For him that stealeth a Book form this Library, let it change into a serpent and rend him…Let Bookworms gnaw his Entrails.” Tongue in cheek? Maybe….

Molly Rodgers may be reached at (570)253-1220.