A Case for Lt. Bookman (Library Cop)

Kim : a travelogue

Continuing with the Seinfeld motif, here's the true story of a library book that journeyed 78 years through space and time - seduced multiple generations of (book) lovers, imparted wisdom and excitement to needy souls, and adorned bookshelves and attics in several adjacent cities.

We've all seen such specimens - our hostel libraries, our Dad's book clubs, the librarian at my high school etc have been looking for them for years and have all but given up ... But really, we shouldn't be joking about these things. Lt. Bookman said it best :

"Sure, go ahead, laugh if you want to. I've seen your type before: Flashy, making the scene, flaunting convention. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. What's this guy making such a big stink about old library books? Well, let me give you a hint, junior. Maybe we can live without libraries, people like you and me. Maybe. Sure, we're too old to change the world, but what about that kid, sitting down, opening a book, right now, in a branch at the local library and finding drawings of pee-pees and wee-wees on the Cat in the Hat and the Five Chinese Brothers? Doesn't HE deserve better? Look. If you think this is about overdue fines and missing books, you'd better think again. This is about that kid's right to read a book without getting his mind warped! Or: maybe that turns you on, Seinfeld; maybe that's how y'get your kicks. You and your good-time buddies. Well I got a flash for ya, joy-boy: Party time is over."

Okay good-time buddies. Go and return those books. Party time is over.