Another Reason to Shop at Barnes and Noble

“Bearing witness. Everyone has a story. Cry for everyone. From God we come and from God we return.”

Isn’t that poetic? I found it in a book at the library today. Only not as a quote the author wrote or chose to include in the first few pages. I found it scrawled on the inside back cover of a novel, hand written in a loose, flowing, feminine script. The novel itself was written by an American from Pakistan, and it is the story of a Muslim woman. That book is not exactly where I would expect to bear witness, but then again, neither is the public library! After all, it’s not like I was at the Christian Science Reading Room, where I would imagine most of the books to be a little on the preachy side. All I wanted was a good book to read before bedtime. If I wanted to read a book about God, I'd check out a bible.

That damn quote scribbled in the new release bothered me more than I thought it would. Seriously, is this what we have come to? Vandalizing library books in the name of the Lord? Really? Is this what Jesus would do? I doubt it. I’m sure Jesus would prefer you to clothe the naked or heal the sick, not force your righteous views on others through damaging library books.

I showed the offending book to the librarian, a friend of mine, who was at the circulation desk. She tsked and said, “Oh, and it’s a new book too,” as if were more understandable to minister to us by scribbling inside old library books.
“I guess this happens all the time, huh? You don’t seem so surprised,” I said to her.
“Yeah,” she said. “Sadly. We even have a couple of old ladies who write their initials in the back of the large print books so they can tell if they’ve checked them out before.”
“That makes sense to me. That I can understand,” I said. “But this,” I pointed to the writing in the book,” I don’t get.”

She stamped the book as damaged so I wouldn’t get blamed or fined for it, which placated me somewhat. I don’t want to be labeled a bible thumper who defaces library books. What really angers me is that someone, or more likely a group of someones, thinks this is a perfectly acceptable outlet for preaching to strangers. I understand that the town where I live is conservative and overly Christian/Evangelical, but surely some people still think that vandalizing public property is a crime, if not a sin. I understand that the Constitution is second to the Ten Commandments for some, and the idea of separation of church and state is currently downright unAmerican. But a library book to me is its own form of sacred document. Even toddlers learn not to color in them.

When I check out a book from the library, I don’t want to find surprises in it. A book mark is okay. A library receipt is understandable. Cigarette smoke and what I hope are food stains are unwelcome but not uncommon, and thus can be overlooked. But sneaky handwritten proselytizing is unacceptable. I suppose it could be worse, though. At least the book wasn’t burned.