The Occupy Wall Street Library: Librarians Display the Ruins

I am an avid reader. Since I was a child I have always loved and collected books and have since passed that appreciation for the printed word on to my own children. My own personal collection numbers in the thousands so I have a pretty good idea just how many books they are talking about here and it breaks my heart. One of the reasons I am not a fan of things like Nooks and Kindles is there is nothing like the reassuring heft of a good book. To me that IS the portable reading device. And with that being said...

one of the strongest issues to arise from the raid is the treatment of the 5,000-volume People's Library housed at the park. The Bloomberg administration originally claimed that the library was intact and ready to be reclaimed, but that assertion has unraveled, and it now appears that the self-proclaimed free-speech mayor is in the awkward position of having presided over the destruction of thousands of books.

For many, the People's Library was one of the most remarkable institutions to arise from the occupation of Zuccotti Park. Its generous lending policy and catholic scope -- George Orwell shared space with Ayn Rand and J.K. Rowling -- made it one of the most tangible symbols of the sort of collaborative, open-source movement the occupiers were trying to build.

you can see by the titles that the people were bringing together information from many sources, different parts of the world even...and yet in the end it was horribly disrespected. Only a third of the collection was recovered and we can only assume the rest was destroyed. As for what WAS salvaged, a third of that is covered in mildew and are essentially unusable.

Librarians, like the other occupiers, were given only 15 minutes notice before the eviction, and so didn't have time to remove the library. At the press conference, they told of rebuilding their library with new donations after the eviction -- only to have their new collection taken by police again, the books placed in the trash and smeared with old food.

Instead of cash damages, the librarians are asking the city to replace books that have been lost or damaged. They're also asking for a promise that this sort of destruction of a working library will never happen again. Thirdly, and perhaps the greatest stretch, they're asking the city to provide a space for the library going forward.

village Voice

reply to post by irsuccubus


Thank you irsuccubus, what a shame, there is nothing like curling up with a good book, and the smell of it, you lose yourself in one.

I can't stand those reading devices either.

reply to post by Stormdancer777


I have spent many a night lost in a good book when I should have been sleeping. That these people were trying to share information and had a working library should let OWS detractors know that there was more going on there than drum circles and complaining. Knowledge is power and those in charge know that. I might be over reacting but the destruction of books deeply offends me.

reply to post by irsuccubus


Unbelievable...butt hen again...TPTB fears an educated public the most.
Fahrenheit 451 anyone???

reply to post by irsuccubus


The destruction of books should deeply offend us all. There's a whole ugly symbolic message associated with destroying books and I think somewhere in our brains we remember what it has meant in the past. Many people consider books sacred, you're not alone, thanks for sharing this.

reply to post by irsuccubus


Of course they destroyed the books.

Why is it that when ever in history there is a conquering of one people by another usally the conquers make it a point to burn all the Library's?

Books are knowledge, knowledge is power, thats why books get destroyed and burned.

Funny how the new library is under siege by TPTB, the internet is the new library and they are burning it...

It wasn't just books they destroyed, this is what's left of some of the laptops from Zuccotti Park.

reply to post by jlv70


ouch! some of those look deliberately stomped on.


I know this is reality in many places other than the US and to have it come to our shores is a humbling thing. I honestly can't cry about it as you reap what you sow. If you are going to embrace things like nationalism you have to do it during both the good and the bad times. And America is getting what it has had coming for a long time. But take heart, because this is exactly what we need. A commonality that can help us understand just what it is that our brothers in countries that have troops marching around wreaking havoc on a daily basis have to go through. And this is just a taste. The American gov is trying to keep up appearances for just a little while longer in these last days of Babylon. But when its time to really put the boots to American citizens they are going to do it....HARD. And like those who we allowed ourselves to be poisoned against...we are going to fight. And it will be bloody and nightmarish and what you see on the news will be outside your door. The question is, are people going to snap out of it in time to load a rifle?

Great post I hadn't even heard of the OWS library until I read this thread.

Personally, I enjoy both modes of reading and feel that really goodbooks should be preserved.
Our increased reliance on technology probably has a proportionally equal risk in losing important published works with who knows what kind of results.

Definitely not a very comforting precedent being set here by the authorities by destroying people's property. Mayby the OWS'ers could use a large van/bookmobile instead.

I saw this on The Other 99 live stream coverage. It was horrifying then, and still is.

There were reports that one of the tents had a mother dog and newborn puppies in it and also went into the trash truck/compactor.

Occupiers were supposed to be able to reclaim their belongings...according to the court ruling. Reports also were that not all the trash was taken to the warehouse for reclaiming and was taken elsewhere.

Why did these belongings need to go into the trash? Is this what we, the people, are to those in charge now...nothing more than dirt spoiling the illusion of prosperity our country has become?

F 451 indeed....Thanks for reporting on this.

Peace.

Books, and laptops destroyed. Are the police delibretly trying to crush my heart? Oh wait, they are.
How can someone do that to a book? It's incomrensible that there would be that much hatred for knowledge. It is almost symbollic how the destruction of the source of knowledge in the OWS, may just be a warning about the destruction of an educated populace willing to fight back.
I can almost see the owners of those laptops crying. If these people truly are as broke as they claim, then they probably just took a major hit. Didn't the police just destroy personal property though? I'm no lawyer, so I don't know about any possible legal action, but at least on moral grounds the police are wrong.
It has been a devastating experiencce for OWS.