Why I Steal from Libraries BY: DIzzIE [antikopyright 2007] To say that you steal from the library is to be met with mortified disbelief followed by swiftly rising umbrage alongside swelling plumage as the moralist, smelling the blood spilt by the perceived violation of some moral maxim, puffs up to thrice zir size and swoops in for the always laughable impartment of Higher Moral Values. How can you steal from the library, have you no soul? Here then is a brief text outlining a few reasons why I steal from libraries. Any one would be sufficient on its own to warrant a theft; the fact that more often than not more than one applies in any given situation or library should be all the more cause for concern over the esteemed edification of the library as some sort of illusory bastion of knowledge as opposed to wretched dungeon of the repression of information, which it most certainly is in this day and age. I. I don't like to be tracked or surveilled. No one has a right to know the names of the books I read, the movies I watch, the music I listen to, the animals I fuck, or the people I eat. Libraries keep intricate records of all of the books you check out or have checked out in the past. Libraries with CCTV are even more troublesome, as are the libraries that force you to undergo searches prior to entering/exiting the library. This is unacceptable to me much like search engines keeping logs of searches you make or credit card companies keeping logs of shit you buy, or say government agencies keeping logs of every inch of movement you make, every flush of your toilet. The fact that Section 215 of the US Patriot Act specifically states that the pigs can subpoena your library records (as well as any other "tangible things") is obviously troubling, but hardly surprising. That some libraries have 'fought' a government request for records here and there is immaterial. The problem is that the records exist in the first place, not that some agencies obviously want to get their hands on them. I don't want to be in any fucking records, to have to worry about the possibility that my habits may be passed on to whoever for whatever motive, therefore I steal the books instead of checking them out. II. I don't like not being able to take some books out of the library. I see no reason to restrict some books to the musty confines of an archaic institution, to be able to be read only in the establishments the library deems to be fit for said impartment of knowledge. I like to read what I want, whenever the fuck I want, therefore I steal the books instead of checking them out. III. I cannot trust the libraries to take care of the books I want to see preserved. Sorry, libraries do not take better care of books than us smelly laypeople. I've been to many a library and in every one I've found evidence of abuse. One example seen only last week would be several boxes of newspapers stacked right next to the fucking radiator! Other cases would be books that have been desperately in need of new binding, books covered in dust and filth attracted by the glue overflowing from apparently botched binding attempts, books literally soaked from leaky water pipes right above the shelving, and on and on. I have even found boxes upon boxes of uncatalogued books stowed away in the bowels of the library's cellar, apparently deemed unfit for public circulation. If the complaint is that the libraries do not have sufficient funding to take care of their books, I fail to see why I should be asked to provide that funding when I and perhaps others are perfectly capable of taking care of the books without monetary compensation. I don't want to see treeware tomes destroyed from neglect (at least not before I get a chance to digitize 'em), therefore I steal the books instead of checking them out. IV. I don't like paying for information. All information must be free. Libraries charge for information by way of taxes, late fees, or (as in the case of, say, university libraries) by charging a fee for access in the first place. I like my reading to be constrained neither by price nor by time, therefore I steal the books instead of checking them out. V. I want to disseminate information as widely as possible, this desire to free the world's knowledge extends to the digitization of books. Librarians tend to go ape shit when they see you scanning a book in the library, as they do if the binding is slightly damaged from a thorough scanning session before you return the book, perhaps even demanding that you pay some atrocious fine (which leads us back to IV). I want to share information across any illusory borders or human-made boundaries, therefore I steal the books instead of checking them out. I support free universal access to information without the impediments of surveillance or payment. Libraries, as they currently exist, are in direction opposition to these goals, therefore I steal the books instead of checking them out. In short: if you are a librarian, go motherfuck yourself. Oh, and if you're interested in a few tips on how to easily go about stealing books from the library see the 'free books from the library' section of Stop Paying for Shit. Finally, in anticipation of the aforementioned repugnant knee jerk reactionism of you, the moralist, I'd merely like to point out that nowhere in this text do I preclude the possibility either of stealing the books back to the library after you're done with them, or of setting up your own free libraries using stolen bounty; think that one over for a little bit. - Comments? Get in touch: xcon0 @t yahoo \/d0t/\ c||o|m (or call +1 (610) 887-6072) For more knowledge check out www.rorta.net and www.dizzy.ws