Campus Vandalism

\tWhen the Nazis were in power, any idea that they considered a threat to their regime was immediately purged from public knowledge. This action often occurred through public book burnings, where members of the party would raid public libraries to incinerate anything Adolf Hitler deemed unsound.
\tOn a much smaller scale at the Lockwood Library, one intolerant individual found a less visible way to destroy 1933: The Year of the German, a rare novel written as a form of propaganda during the reign of the Third Reich. There are only 10 existing copies in the entire world: two in the United States, one of which is in the care of UB. Or rather, was in care of UB. The novel was returned to the library with all of the pages glued together in an obvious act of vandalism. The University Center for Book Conservation, where all damaged books are sent for repair, was forced to use replace the original text with photocopies.
\tNo matter how abhorrent the Nazi regime and propaganda is to our societyOs values, our Constitution protects the right for it to be published to the general public. Ironically, the person who chose to destroy what he could not tolerate is committing the same crime practiced over 60 years ago by Hitler himself.
\tBut most students are not radicals who purposefully damage what they do not believe in. The damage to library books occurs because students either do not care or are careless themselves. The Conservation Center staff said most of the repairs they make involve patching back torn pages or replacing whole chapters or photos removed entirely from the book because a student was too cheap or lazy to make a photocopy.
\tThis problem is symptomatic of a general self-inflicted malaise suffered by many students. They complain about how ugly UB is, but think nothing of leaving gum and graffiti on the desks, dumping cigarette butts at the entrances of every building, or engaging in other actions that only make the university more unattractive. Just check out the latest hole punched into one of the pillars of the Student Union Flag Room or the graffiti scrawled across the Knox lecture hall sign earlier this week.
\tBut in the meantime, rare books like 1933: The Year of the German should not even be offered in general circulation. Although UB has a rare books library, a student only needs to take a trip to the dusty shelves of Capen and Lockwood to actually see rare novels. Some books and records are over 100 years old, and deserve to be treated with proper care, meaning a limited access reading room.
\tKeeping valuable books a monitored reading room should sufficiently address the difficulties of preserving them while allowing everyone to appreciate them. These materials are primary records of our history, evidence that should not fade with print or crumble away with paper but should be preserved for perpetuity.