In the last decade or so, the Houston, Texas library system reports that almost a quarter of a million books have either not been returned since 1999. Let me type that another way: almost 250,000 books are just gone cause lazy jerks could not be bothered to swing by a book drop. Add on another 100,000 items just missing and you come up with a whole lot of materials flittered away. The best part: nobody reading this in the library community is surprised, except maybe the newbies. I blame the kids and their rock music. chron.comHere's another story from across the pond (Atlantic Ocean) in British People Land: someone stole the copper from the roof of a London library which allowed rain water to get in a trash the place. When will people stop inviting rain water to parties? Anyway, a temporary library has been set up to ensure that the regular thieves still have access to books and DVDs to steal. thisislocallondon