It is said that books open a world of discovery, but staff at the Leamington library are none too pleased with what they’ve been finding on the shelves lately. A patron has been urinating on books. At first it was the fiction of Dan Brown and Lee Child. Monday morning, staff discovered the vandal had moved to more expensive non-fiction titles on genealogy and ancient civilizations.
“It’s very unsettling,” said Janet Woodbridge, chief librarian and CEO of the Essex County Library system. In her four years heading up Essex County’s 14 branches, and 23 years at the Windsor Public Library before that, she has never heard of such vandalism.
“This is deviant behavior.”
The acts are taking place in the library, with the vandal – almost certainly a male – relieving himself on the lower shelves. He is keeping to the farthest reaches of the building, and is likely waiting to see that library staffers are busy at the front desk. Until the latest discovery Monday, he had been keeping to the rear left corner of the library, where the fiction section is located. Monday’s discovery was in the rear right corner of the building.
The first instance occurred about three weeks ago, Woodbridge said. The latest occurred over the weekend. It has happened four times in all. More than 210 books have been destroyed. Until Monday, staff had pegged the damage at $3,000, but the latest destruction – to 90 non-fiction hardcovers all worth much more than the earlier fiction casualties, has yet to be tallied.
Books are seen at the Leamington Public Library. (Dan Janisse/The Windsor Star)
Books are seen at the Leamington Public Library. (Dan Janisse/The Windsor Star)
Staff didn’t call police after the first instance, believing it to be an isolated event, Woodbridge said. They called after the second time and police went public after the third.
The ink had barely dried on the police news release Monday when staff made the latest discovery in the non-fiction section. A visit to the library Monday found the branch manager donning blue medical gloves and scrubbing the shelves herself. She said she could have waited until the janitor arrived, but that would have meant cordoning off a section of the library and inconveniencing patrons.
“Kudos to my staff,” Woodbridge said.
The library has mounted a second security mirror and will soon install surveillance cameras. When they are not busy with patrons, the librarians patrol the rows of shelves. They’ve moved all the books off the bottom three shelves of the bookcases to mitigate damage if there is another attack.The library staff has been trying to keep the vandalism quiet, not wanting to scare off any of the 250 to 300 patrons who use the library
every day.
“That is disgusting,” said regular patron Barb Newman, learning about the vandalism as she left the library Monday. “My heart sank when I saw all the books missing,” she said.
“I hope they find him. I hope they make him pay for it.”
Library patron Karen Anderson Miller said she thinks the vandalism is an expression of anger. “That to me is aggressive.” Miller, a school teacher, said she is sure the person committing the acts likely has psychological issues surrounding education.“That’s my opinion. There’s an anger there. It’s somebody angry at the written word.”
Books have been removed from lower shelves at the Leamington Public Library in a far corner of the building. An unknown person has been urinating on the books and damaging them. The corner is reflected in a domed mirror. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)
Books have been removed from lower shelves at the Leamington Public Library in a far corner of the building. An unknown person has been urinating on the books and damaging them. The corner is reflected in a domed mirror. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)
Books have been removed from lower shelves at the Leamington Public Library in a far corner of the building. An unknown person has been urinating on the books and damaging them. The corner is reflected in a domed mirror. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)
Books have been removed from lower shelves at the Leamington Public Library in a far corner of the building. An unknown person has been urinating on the books and damaging them. The corner is reflected in a domed mirror. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)
Books have been removed from lower shelves at the Leamington Public Library in a far corner of the building. An unknown person has been urinating on the books and damaging them. The corner is reflected in a domed mirror. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)
Books have been removed from lower shelves at the Leamington Public Library in a far corner of the building. An unknown person has been urinating on the books and damaging them. The corner is reflected in a domed mirror. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)