# Shut up and read! And don't vandalize books, either! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 23, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-up-and-read-and-dont-vandalize-books-either/138393 "2002-11-23T21:25:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-up-and-read-and-dont-vandalize-books-either/138393/21 "2002-11-25T13:21:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Waenara \* > \*\*And why would you need more than two minutes anyways? Two or three minutes is long enough to decide if you want to read a paperback or basically any fiction book. You _could_ make a case for a longer read being necessary to decide if you want to buy a reference or non-fiction book. > \*\* Geez, the bookstore police are going to drag me off in chains. The only time I buy a book is if it’s non-fiction or reference. I _always_ take a lot longer than two minutes to choose a book. Especially if I’m looking for one on theory or _any_ technical field. First I check to see that topics it covers, then I check out a few passages to see the extent to which those topics are covered, and then I skim through the chapters on stuff I already know in order to evaluate the accuracy and thoroughness. If it doesn’t meet my expectations then I look at a different book. Fiction? I don’t go through as quite an elaborate process, but I do take longer than 2 minutes. Come to think of it, I don’t think I _buy_ fiction… that’s why I have a library card. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-up-and-read-and-dont-vandalize-books-either/138393/22 "2002-11-25T13:37:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ben \* > And while we’re at it, which of you decided to stick big, big blobs of bubble gum between the pages of _After Man_? Damn, that’s a very cool book, too. The parts without the gum on them should still be pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-up-and-read-and-dont-vandalize-books-either/138393/23 "2002-11-25T13:58:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WSLer \* > \*\*Are you suggesting that a employee should stand next to customers with a stopwatch loudly intoning that said customers only has 2 minutes to persue a particular book and decided whether or not to buy it, and after the 2 minutes are up, if the customer has not made a decision, the customer will be forced to leave the store?:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: > > Way to build up good customer service. \*\* No, He Who Hates Everything, I am not. I’m saying that libraries are shifting from the quiet, staid atmosphere they’ve always had to a more social gathering where one could (in some places) grab a cup of coffee and wander over to the stacks and pick up a couple of books, chat with their friends, browse the Internet, and so on. These places are moving from catering to the “serious” reader/researcher to catering to the more-boisterous, active crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-up-and-read-and-dont-vandalize-books-either/138393/24 "2002-11-25T14:06:27Z")
Dude, the B&N setting/policy rocks. I _love_ my local store. I know it’s a massive soulless corporate chain or whatever, but the atmosphere is great. The employees are smart, knowledgeable about books, and remember you. When I go in to buy a book they offer opinions on it and make sure to ask me what I thought when I come back. I once pointed out to an employee there that there was no Robert Penn Warren in the poetry section, which made her mad enough to go get a manager and yell at HIM about it. Now that’s what I like in a bookstore employee! Plus, I can go get a coffee and read some books. I usually end up buying one anyway. Here’s a hint: the reason they stick to that business plan is because it WORKS. Yay B&N, or at least the crew that works my local one. LC ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-up-and-read-and-dont-vandalize-books-either/138393/25 "2002-11-25T14:22:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Waenara \* > \*\*And why would you need more than two minutes anyways? Two or three minutes is long enough to decide if you want to read a paperback or basically any fiction book. You _could_ make a case for a longer read being necessary to decide if you want to buy a reference or non-fiction book. \*\* Most of the books I buy cost between 20 - 40 bucks, since it takes me between 1 to 2 hours to earn that net income, I think it is not outside my privy to spend at least that much time, if I need it, to determine which book I get to buy… I don’t usually sit and read books, but what I do is often peruse the same books, time and again, until I knock it off my “to be purchased” list. Which is growing longer since my book budget has been slashed… stupid fiscal responsibility ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-up-and-read-and-dont-vandalize-books-either/138393/26 "2002-11-25T17:09:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ben \* > \*\*And while we’re at it, which of you decided to stick big, big blobs of bubble gum between the pages of _After Man_? \*\* Heheh…gum between the pages? You’re lucky that’s _all_ they did. I worked the Circulation department of my local library during high school. Y’all would not believe the condition of some of the books that we get returned. I’ve gotten gum between the pages before. That one isn’t so bad. It _does_ technically render the book unable to be circulated further, but at least most of the pages are unaffected. Also, the grossness is on the inside, meaning that you don’t _have_ to touch it. I’ve seen books that came back moldy. I’ve seen many, many children’s books returned with crayon or pen scribbles. Sometimes the parents tried to deny that it was their kid who did it, but a lot of these kids decided to write their _names_, so there was almost no denying who did it. People used to throw the strangest crap in the bookdrop. I didn’t see all of these, admittedly, but I know they occurred. People put paintballs, snow, trash, half-eaten fruits, what appeared to be the contents of half a bottle of grape-flavored cough syrup, and a dead bird in there over the course of less than a year. And that’s just what I remember. There were books that had apparently been given a bath. And, worst of all, one time one of my friends had to check in a copy of the _Kama Sutra_. A copy with some sort of whitish crusty substance on the cover… …so, yeah. Library patrons can be horrible. Next time, politely ask them to step outside with their cell phone. Odds are they aren’t supposed to be using them in the research area anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Pythagras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Pythagras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagras)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-up-and-read-and-dont-vandalize-books-either/138393/27 "2002-11-25T20:40:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*Many libraries are becoming more like coffeehouses now, since Borders and Barnes and Noble both allow people to grab a book off the shelf and read it right there. ☹ \*\* Whats wrong with that? Coffee + Books = good combination. You just have to figure out a way to make sure assholes arent spilling crap. One method would be to stop giving away “for here” cups and instead only give out cups with lids. Also, make sure people realize that they will get charged for repairs to books with coffee stains. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-up-and-read-and-dont-vandalize-books-either/138393/28 "2002-11-25T23:06:16Z")
You know, I used to find wads of chawin’ tobaccky, spit in between the pabes of a book every so often. There was even one in a reference book about the American Revolutionary War. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-up-and-read-and-dont-vandalize-books-either/138393/29 "2002-11-25T23:41:34Z")
Well, there’s libraries, and there’s bookstores, and personally I think they both serve different purposes. You want a social place to check out some books, kick back, and relax? Bookstore. You want to do research or get some quiet reading in? Library. Blurring the lines means that those people who need to do that research or need a quiet place to read are going to be SOL sooner rather than later. (The coffee itself isn’t a problem; it’s the behavior it **might** induce. The local library where I used to live had a central coffee counter, but I believe you were restricted as to where you could bring it.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-up-and-read-and-dont-vandalize-books-either/138393.md?page=1)