Summary
A man checked out 100 books from Beachwood Library in Beachwood, Ohio, covering Jewish history, African-American history, and LGBTQ topics, and later posted social media videos showing the books with captions referencing “cleansing” libraries before burning them.
Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative alerted the library about the posts.
The books were worth about $1,700. Since they are not overdue, the library will bill the man later.
Police say the matter is civil unless he fails to pay. He is now banned from returning to the library.
from the library’s perspective this couldn’t be simpler. they have an exact list of which books to replace and who to charge for the balance.
Yeah but in the current climate I’m worried he’s going to encourage other bigots to be similarly destructive, and that shithead nazis will come to his defense and try to normalize it.
well of course, I agree. but the library can’t control that; they’re just trying to hold on and survive.
Sending a bill is one thing; collecting on it is another. As it stands now, the library is out $1700 and those books aren’t necessarily getting replaced soon (or if they are, something else is not getting done instead).
An example needs to be made so that this tactic doesn’t spread.
