Libraries suffer vandalism around finals

At some point on Wednesday, May 2, in the middle of finals week, hundreds of books on the lowest level of Perkins Library were pulled from their stacks, tossed on the floor and otherwise deliberately scattered and strewn about.

We don’t yet know whether this was simply a reckless prank or a more purposeful act of vandalism. Security camera footage of the area is currently being reviewed and may offer some clues about who and how many were involved. (Yes, you were being watched.)

All we can say for certain at this point is that it took library staff hours to clean up the mess during one of our busiest weeks of the year.

If only this were an isolated incident. But it came less than a week after someone smashed the glass front of a vending machine in the Link and made off with all the snacks inside.

Every semester, during finals time, the libraries marshal our resources to ensure that Duke students have everything they need to do their best academically. We adjust our schedules so that Perkins, Bostock and Lilly libraries can remain open and staffed 24 hours a day. We rent extra tables and chairs to accommodate the increased demand for quiet study space. Our Friends of the Libraries organize two study breaks (one in Lilly, one in Perkins), where we lavish free homemade cookies, coffee, and treats on our students to let them know that we’re all pulling for them during this stressful time.

This is all as it should be. The library is the intellectual heart of the University, where the business and pleasure of learning never cease. And we are proud that so many students treat us like a second home throughout the year. You are the reason we’re here.

So it’s extremely disheartening to find ourselves on the receiving end of such thoughtless and uncivilized behavior. The perpetrators insulted not only all of us who work here, but also everyone who comes to the library as a place of refuge, where one can escape the senseless havoc of the world and reflect on higher things. They also made it difficult, if not impossible, for anyone needing a book in the defiled ranges to find it.

By the time this is published, finals will be over, the books will be restored to their proper places and the unknown individuals to whom this letter is addressed will likely be bidding Duke farewell, at least for the summer. But I hope they will also take this time of departures to reflect on their actions, which were not at all worthy of educated minds.