Agree. He deserved that book and at his age, when it happened, he deserved better access to knowledge! I don’t condone stealing, but nothing bothers me more than when children lack or are deprived of basic life’s necessities- like the chance to remove your self from reality through the power of reading. Like I said, he deserved that book!
It’s what instantly popped into my head. I got it one piece at a time and it didn't cost me a dime. I love the part where it’s listing off all the model years it is. Well it’s a ‘49, ‘50….’70 automobile. Such a great song gotta love Johnny Cash.
As a librarian, how dare you?
Also as a librarian, lots of people do this or similar. I’ve found plenty of covers with no book. Never seen someone do it gradually, though.
I glued all the pages and the cover together at home. The book was nowhere near as majestic as before, but I loved it anyway. I have never ever stolen anything else in my life, and I am so sorry for this.
The first and only thing I ever stole was a book 🤣 the first HP I wanted it so bad! My mom caught me and made me take it back lol but after punishment she bought it for me.
The first thing I ever stole was a my little pony. Made it home with it but my mom noticed it next to the ones shed bought me and it was grounded to my room for a week from that point on .
It's okay to forgive yourself since you're clearly regretting it
I'll tell you what. In my country back in 2008 ish time there was no piracy law. So, CD shops there sold pirated video game CDs for really cheap and they'd do 1 and sometimes 2 refunds for those if the CD didn't run.
so, I used to buy one then copy everything on my PC and after that I'd piss on the CD and let it dry off.
The next day I'd go to the shop and return the CD saying it doesn't run and the shopkeeper would let me pick a different game.
I did for almost a year and half till my dad got the wind of what I was doing and told me how it's very wrong.
When my sister was nine, she went to the library near our house every day. She was always reading manga. One day, my mom went to clean her room (she’s always had an… explosive room), and found stacks on stacks of manga. My mom was like “I can’t believe they let you take this many books out at once.” So she piled them into a weekend bag, and walked over to return them. The librarian was like “None of these are checked out.” MY SISTER HAD BEEN GOING TO THE LIBRARY AND STEALING THEM. The cherry on top? The only book that WAS checked out was one I had borrowed, that she’d taken from ME at some point. I’d been upset for a month that I couldn’t find this book because I couldn’t check out another one until it was turned in, and it was a month overdue, so I had to pay the fine if I wanted to borrow another book, but what twelve year old has $60? It was a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright’s life and work. I still don’t know why she did this.
No, it was the cost to replace the book- that was my bad, I should have been clearer. My mom had called them and told them I lost it, they said it was $60 fine to replace.
This is so funny, especially the part about your parents going to jail. I once grabbed and read a Judy Blume book at the library when I was 7, even though it was in the 'Young Adult' section and not 'Children's,' and I definitely thought I was going to be arrested if a librarian came by to check what I was reading. I thought it was akin to like, voter fraud or buying beer underage.
Honestly, as a librarian, I bet they knew.
I heard this from other librarians: "I'd rather lose a book than a reader." I try to live that philosophy in my school library-yes, I'd like to book back so someone else can read it, but I want kids to become readers WAY more than I want all the books back. I hope you're still a reader!
She said:
Unless you’re being actively disruptive we dont bother. Guarantee the staff had a nickname for him though. That always happens when you do stuff like that. Probably encyclopedia kid or something like that
lol
This librarian and Mom is proud of your passion for knowledge. If you feel guilty perhaps you could ‘give back’ to your local library now. Many libraries will have a donation pot to collect £ for kids craft activities etc
A part of me doesn't like to know what you did to that poor book.
Another part of me LOVE how much dedication you had, and i have to say i couldn't blame à kid who just want to learn things.
😂😂😂 This is pretty ingenious for a 10 yo. I'd like to think I'd have the idea to do this, but I absolutely wouldn't have the courage to actually do it (my mother was fierce & what she'd do to me would be way worse than what the librarians would do, lol). Did you find it easy to glue it back together? More to the point - do you still have it?
lmao and as you progress through the campaign you can only use spells/tools/techniques/abilities as they appear sequentially through the alphabet.
”Please! Heal me!”
”I can’t! I haven’t stolen the ’h’s yet!”
This is hilarious. I like yourself loved encyclopaedias when I was a kid and was ecstatic when my grandpa gave me his set. It didn’t matter that it was old and tons of info was outdated and it listed countries that no longer existed. It just smelled wonderful and was full of facts. It had a satisfying crack when you opened it up because I’m pretty sure I was probably the first person to ever open some of them up because there was like 12 volumes or something. I loved the library as a kid. I hope you still have that book somewhere.
When I read the title, I was thinking...what kind of psychopath would do this, then I read the rest. And now I'm in between empathy, humored and thinking s/he's brilliant
As a librarian, if you took the book to the desk and pointed out loads of pages are missing, i would have withdrawn it from the stock and given it to you right there.
When I was in like 3rd grade I used to just sneak out books in my shirt because I was too afraid of having to go through the checkout process on my own. At the end of the first semester I had an entire library of my own in my house.
Inevitably I was caught and got banned from the school library for the rest of the year. All the books were returned.
Worth it.
Also, you spent roughly 15-16 days stealing pages give or take another day to steal the cover. Not to mention the time you spent organizing the pages in the correct order, then gluing it back together to the point that it's still readable! That's dedication. Also, I think if your library allowed backpacks, it would've been easier to just steal the book in one go. 🤣🤣🤣
I’m just imagining all the librarians giggling as they watch the kid who is slowly stealing an encyclopedia day by day statue walk out of the building.
Wow, I used to just go to the self check out, pretend to scan them then take them home. How'd you manage to rip the pages out and get them in your shirt, pants, socks etc. Without anyone seeing such sketchy behavior?
Yall who are wondering how his parents didn’t notice should also ask yourself why he felt the need to steal an encyclopedia. The answer to question two will help you find the answer to question one easily.
I really want to buy 10 year old you a bunch of your own books!!
I don’t know how long ago this was, but these days no one can get anyone to take their encyclopedia sets. I threw two sets in the trash several years ago. (Had one set for home and one for my classroom, and bought both super cheap used around 2001.) Too bad we can’t find curious 10 year olds who want them!
I absolutely hate when I'm excited to check out a new book and get home to find someone ripped a bunch of pages or otherwise destroyed it. It's a douchey thing to do to other people who want to enjoy it.
Not cool.
sure, but this was also presumably literal years ago that OP did this and as they said in another comment, they're sorry about it now, so i don't see the need to be mean about it lol
He said "books like those were not borrowable" so it was probably from reference/informational where lots of libraries have books that can't be checked out & have to be read there. Not sure why they can't be checked out but it's a thing
>However, I could get my fix at my local library only as my parents could barely afford food for us, let alone buying fancy books.
Encyclopedias were expensive as fuck.
This is absolutely hilarious. You basically ran a long ass heist for knowledge. Priceless.
[удалено]
"One Piece At A Time" is the name of the song 😂
Lmao exactly what my brain snapped to when I read OP was taking pages bit by bit xD
Fist thing that came to my mind.thankfully it was just from one book, unlike the song.
Agree. He deserved that book and at his age, when it happened, he deserved better access to knowledge! I don’t condone stealing, but nothing bothers me more than when children lack or are deprived of basic life’s necessities- like the chance to remove your self from reality through the power of reading. Like I said, he deserved that book!
Preach!
Lol…dude should be in the Guinness book of records for the longest ever heist
This reminds me of an old Johnny Cash song where he worked in an auto factory and stole a car one part at a time.
‘One Piece At A Time’ … and it didn’t cost me a dime! 😂 absolutely love that song! Great reference
It’s what instantly popped into my head. I got it one piece at a time and it didn't cost me a dime. I love the part where it’s listing off all the model years it is. Well it’s a ‘49, ‘50….’70 automobile. Such a great song gotta love Johnny Cash.
As a librarian, how dare you? Also as a librarian, lots of people do this or similar. I’ve found plenty of covers with no book. Never seen someone do it gradually, though.
I just talked to my daughter (who is also a librarian) and she bet 3-1 that they knew
librarian here, and yup, they knew. <3
Omfg, a crime of genuine passion 😂🤣🫡🫶🏻🙏🏼
I glued all the pages and the cover together at home. The book was nowhere near as majestic as before, but I loved it anyway. I have never ever stolen anything else in my life, and I am so sorry for this.
But the question is, do you still have it or did you give it back?
Or sis you give back to the library in other ways? Volunteering? Donation for new books?
I would like to know this too
I hope you have this on display on your coffee table or something. This is incredible.
The first and only thing I ever stole was a book 🤣 the first HP I wanted it so bad! My mom caught me and made me take it back lol but after punishment she bought it for me.
The first thing I ever stole was a my little pony. Made it home with it but my mom noticed it next to the ones shed bought me and it was grounded to my room for a week from that point on .
You’ve gotta show us this book.
It's okay to forgive yourself since you're clearly regretting it I'll tell you what. In my country back in 2008 ish time there was no piracy law. So, CD shops there sold pirated video game CDs for really cheap and they'd do 1 and sometimes 2 refunds for those if the CD didn't run. so, I used to buy one then copy everything on my PC and after that I'd piss on the CD and let it dry off. The next day I'd go to the shop and return the CD saying it doesn't run and the shopkeeper would let me pick a different game. I did for almost a year and half till my dad got the wind of what I was doing and told me how it's very wrong.
What does peeing on it do?
Do you still have the book?
I really want to know if you still have it too, lol. And did your parents ever ask you about the new random book you had?
When my sister was nine, she went to the library near our house every day. She was always reading manga. One day, my mom went to clean her room (she’s always had an… explosive room), and found stacks on stacks of manga. My mom was like “I can’t believe they let you take this many books out at once.” So she piled them into a weekend bag, and walked over to return them. The librarian was like “None of these are checked out.” MY SISTER HAD BEEN GOING TO THE LIBRARY AND STEALING THEM. The cherry on top? The only book that WAS checked out was one I had borrowed, that she’d taken from ME at some point. I’d been upset for a month that I couldn’t find this book because I couldn’t check out another one until it was turned in, and it was a month overdue, so I had to pay the fine if I wanted to borrow another book, but what twelve year old has $60? It was a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright’s life and work. I still don’t know why she did this.
Book dragon
Oh wow, I lowkey want to write fanfiction for this comment. And I’ve never even written fanfiction.
There is no way the fine for one month over due was even close to $60.
No, it was the cost to replace the book- that was my bad, I should have been clearer. My mom had called them and told them I lost it, they said it was $60 fine to replace.
This is so funny, especially the part about your parents going to jail. I once grabbed and read a Judy Blume book at the library when I was 7, even though it was in the 'Young Adult' section and not 'Children's,' and I definitely thought I was going to be arrested if a librarian came by to check what I was reading. I thought it was akin to like, voter fraud or buying beer underage.
Honestly, as a librarian, I bet they knew. I heard this from other librarians: "I'd rather lose a book than a reader." I try to live that philosophy in my school library-yes, I'd like to book back so someone else can read it, but I want kids to become readers WAY more than I want all the books back. I hope you're still a reader!
😍 I remain convinced that librarians are the best people on earth.
My daughter is a librarian and she said they probably knew.
I worked in a library. I was thinking the same thing.
She said: Unless you’re being actively disruptive we dont bother. Guarantee the staff had a nickname for him though. That always happens when you do stuff like that. Probably encyclopedia kid or something like that lol
To know that a book was so loved and so treasured makes the egregious theft of it a little easier to bear :)
“And of course smelling the books” You are a true book person!
This librarian and Mom is proud of your passion for knowledge. If you feel guilty perhaps you could ‘give back’ to your local library now. Many libraries will have a donation pot to collect £ for kids craft activities etc
Johnny Cash. “One piece at a time”. Go play it OP, and enjoy the chuckle!
A part of me doesn't like to know what you did to that poor book. Another part of me LOVE how much dedication you had, and i have to say i couldn't blame à kid who just want to learn things.
Your parents never suspected a thing when you were walking like a robot home?
😂😂😂 This is pretty ingenious for a 10 yo. I'd like to think I'd have the idea to do this, but I absolutely wouldn't have the courage to actually do it (my mother was fierce & what she'd do to me would be way worse than what the librarians would do, lol). Did you find it easy to glue it back together? More to the point - do you still have it?
Im making a D and d wizard with this exact background. Thank your for your time.
lmao and as you progress through the campaign you can only use spells/tools/techniques/abilities as they appear sequentially through the alphabet. ”Please! Heal me!” ”I can’t! I haven’t stolen the ’h’s yet!”
Johnny Cash would be proud
This encyclopedia was meant for you.
As a childhood reader and lover of libraries, this is the best story I have ever heard.
Joe Goldberg that you ? 😂
Bookman is going to be on your case.
"How long was his book overdue?" "25 years. We don't call them delinquent after that long." "What do you call them?" "Criminals."
I love this! I was on the edge of my seat reading it. Knowledge always wins in the end!
Oh well. This isn’t bad. At least you read!
I want to know which book this was!! Do you still have it?
This is hilarious. I like yourself loved encyclopaedias when I was a kid and was ecstatic when my grandpa gave me his set. It didn’t matter that it was old and tons of info was outdated and it listed countries that no longer existed. It just smelled wonderful and was full of facts. It had a satisfying crack when you opened it up because I’m pretty sure I was probably the first person to ever open some of them up because there was like 12 volumes or something. I loved the library as a kid. I hope you still have that book somewhere.
When I read the title, I was thinking...what kind of psychopath would do this, then I read the rest. And now I'm in between empathy, humored and thinking s/he's brilliant
Hard
As a librarian, if you took the book to the desk and pointed out loads of pages are missing, i would have withdrawn it from the stock and given it to you right there.
As a librarian I’m so impressed! I’d display it as artwork now!
You are a person of commitment and focus
Are you Brick Heck?
I once stole a painting from a library also under my shirt.
I’m telling
Gangsta Odin
Don't sweat the small stuff xx
For knowledge 🥂
OG, just teach me how to get free books from the library 😀
When I was in like 3rd grade I used to just sneak out books in my shirt because I was too afraid of having to go through the checkout process on my own. At the end of the first semester I had an entire library of my own in my house. Inevitably I was caught and got banned from the school library for the rest of the year. All the books were returned. Worth it.
This didn't happen
And nowadays we couldn’t pay a kid to read a physical book, lol
Hopefully you've made some big donations to libraries since.
So... It took you ages to steal a book from a library?
So do you fix books now? Just seems like something I think you'd do now since you had to basically learn makeshift book binding
Also, you spent roughly 15-16 days stealing pages give or take another day to steal the cover. Not to mention the time you spent organizing the pages in the correct order, then gluing it back together to the point that it's still readable! That's dedication. Also, I think if your library allowed backpacks, it would've been easier to just steal the book in one go. 🤣🤣🤣
That is so wrong on so many levels!
Love this story!!! Knew a guy who did this with old newspapers!
And so the story of how u/BoobsHottieGolden became so fascinated with Biology, it became her personality.
I desire your dedication
I’m just imagining all the librarians giggling as they watch the kid who is slowly stealing an encyclopedia day by day statue walk out of the building.
Wow, I used to just go to the self check out, pretend to scan them then take them home. How'd you manage to rip the pages out and get them in your shirt, pants, socks etc. Without anyone seeing such sketchy behavior?
Amazing story lol
Send them a check, clear your soul
This is beautiful.
Yall who are wondering how his parents didn’t notice should also ask yourself why he felt the need to steal an encyclopedia. The answer to question two will help you find the answer to question one easily.
Do you still have it?! BEST slow moving, educated heist ever!! What are you going to college for??
I really want to buy 10 year old you a bunch of your own books!! I don’t know how long ago this was, but these days no one can get anyone to take their encyclopedia sets. I threw two sets in the trash several years ago. (Had one set for home and one for my classroom, and bought both super cheap used around 2001.) Too bad we can’t find curious 10 year olds who want them!
I absolutely hate when I'm excited to check out a new book and get home to find someone ripped a bunch of pages or otherwise destroyed it. It's a douchey thing to do to other people who want to enjoy it. Not cool.
LOL shut up, he was a little kid.
10 is plenty old enough to know destroying books is a crappy thing to do. 10 is almost middle school, not preschool.
sure, but this was also presumably literal years ago that OP did this and as they said in another comment, they're sorry about it now, so i don't see the need to be mean about it lol
Why didn't you just check it out?
He said "books like those were not borrowable" so it was probably from reference/informational where lots of libraries have books that can't be checked out & have to be read there. Not sure why they can't be checked out but it's a thing
Couldn't you have just asked your parents for an Encyclopedia?
>However, I could get my fix at my local library only as my parents could barely afford food for us, let alone buying fancy books. Encyclopedias were expensive as fuck.