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How am I stealing library books if my taxes already paid for them? It does mean they are mine for the taking.
chiroptera, your link says private philanthropy has a significant role in the expansion of libraries. It does not have the only role. Where do you think most of the money for library funding comes from? Gov't taxes. I don't know how anyone can refute this. I never said it was only gov't taxes. It is mainly gov't taxes that libraries live on.
How do you steal a x from y public/gov't agency? Taxes paid for them.
How do you steal groceries from a food stamp/WIC user? Your taxes paid for them.
How do you steal the money from Grandma's cashed social security check? You paid for that.
You are expropriating public public property. A somewhat less complicated word is "stealing."
What is even more sickening is that most libraries sell their old books for essentially next to nothing.
How am I stealing library books if my taxes already paid for them? It does mean they are mine for the taking.
chiroptera, your link says private philanthropy has a significant role in the expansion of libraries. It does not have the only role. Where do you think most of the money for library funding comes from? Gov't taxes. I don't know how anyone can refute this. I never said it was only gov't taxes. It is mainly gov't taxes that libraries live on.
By your logic you have STOLEN from the rest of the public since your taxes alone did not fund every single book in the library.
How am I stealing library books if my taxes already paid for them? It does mean they are mine for the taking.
chiroptera, your link says private philanthropy has a significant role in the expansion of libraries. It does not have the only role. Where do you think most of the money for library funding comes from? Gov't taxes. I don't know how anyone can refute this. I never said it was only gov't taxes. It is mainly gov't taxes that libraries live on.
No, regardless of who paid for them they are NOT yours for the taking. They are placed in a public trust in good faith that you will abide by the agreement you signed when you got a library card. That agreement stipulates that you agree to the library's policies for loan and use of library materials.
What you are saying is that you have the right to walk into ANY municipal facility and help yourself to whatever you want. I suggest you test your theory by walking into your local law enforcement office and helping yourself to a desk chair.
At most of my local libraries, they have places where they sell books. At some libraries it's in a separate room. Other libraries merely have a small section with two bookshelves near the front entrance. A while back, I was at a library where they have a section with two bookshelves. I took a whole bunch of books without paying for it. Some lady noticed this and, as I was leaving, she said to me, "Do you know you're supposed to pay for those books?"
"What?" I asked. "Do you work for the library?"
"I used to," she replied. "The library is selling those books. They aren't for free. If you're going to take them, I suggest you buy them."
"The citizens already pay for library books with their taxes. My taxes pay for libraries to operate, it pays the salary librarians have, and it pays the books libraries buy. Don't you think libraries have a lot of gall to expect the public to pay for books their taxes already paid for?"
She looked at me surprised. She couldn't say anything. She tried to stammer but nothing intelligible came out. I said, "Why don't you ponder what I said before getting high and mighty next time?" Then I turned on my heel and walked away.
Later on, I bought un-du, the library sticker remover. I was able to get rid of most of the library stickers without a problem. Then I tried selling them to a used bookstore. But they couldn't take half the books. The ones they couldn't take had stickers inside them saying, "Former property of Dallas County Library". The guy at the used bookstore said, "These are good books. They are in excellent shape. I can't take them with all these markings inside of them though. It completely ruins their value. If they were without the markings, I would have been able to give you about $60. But since I can only take half I can only give you $25."
What a waste!
Here's my thing: the U.S. gov't uses my tax money to pay for libraries. Even if I never set foot in one my taxes will be used for them. Then the gov't tries to sell these books back to the public. Don't you think the gov't has a lot of gall to try selling to the people books their taxes already paid for? Secondly, the books they sell are ruined with all the stickers and markings all over them. Why do they need all these stupid stickers and markings all over library books?
The U.S. gov't has the ability to send millions of troops from around the world to the Middle East with the proper food, shelter, medical supplies, and state of the art technology within a week. But they can't figure out a library system that doesn't involve ugly markings and stickers all over their books?
If they're going to sell books back to the public, they should at least sell books that have resale value.
Isn't the practice of county, state and federal government agencies selling their surplus items at auctions the same thing? And yet few would pass up the opportunity to purchase a gently used vehicle or piece of needed office equipment or furniture at a great price. The taxpayer paid for these things and yet one sole bidder will reap the benefit through his successful bid, not the masses of citizens who helped pay for the fleet car, the copier, the computer or whatever. Think about that.
............... Then I tried selling them to a used bookstore. But they couldn't take half the books. The ones they couldn't take had stickers inside them saying, "Former property of Dallas County Library". The guy at the used bookstore said, "These are good books. They are in excellent shape. I can't take them with all these markings inside of them though. It completely ruins their value. If they were without the markings, I would have been able to give you about $60. But since I can only take half I can only give you $25."
What a waste!
.................If they're going to sell books back to the public, they should at least sell books that have resale value.
The used book market drives the price of used books. The library certainly has nothing to do with it. The library discards books that are no longer circulating because of their condition or because people just aren't interested.
Maybe they should keep the books with NO resale value for circulation and sell the valuable ones to the general public for 25 cents each?
A majority of the books sold by libraries were DONATED by the general public with the understanding that they will be LOANED by the library if needed or SOLD to make a profit. Some libraries do make some extra money by selling books online for the market price, but some do not have the time to set that up, and others feel that redistributing books to the general public via a book sale is a public service.
You would probably get better profits by selling your stolen books online. I have bought and sold discarded library books this way. (ones i acquired legally)
You can even use the computer at the public library to set up your online business!
How am I stealing library books if my taxes already paid for them? It does mean they are mine for the taking.
chiroptera, your link says private philanthropy has a significant role in the expansion of libraries. It does not have the only role. Where do you think most of the money for library funding comes from? Gov't taxes. I don't know how anyone can refute this. I never said it was only gov't taxes. It is mainly gov't taxes that libraries live on.
By that logic, you could take anything in the library (the computers, any book) or hell...why not take a police car or fire truck? Your tax dollars paid for them, right?
I buy old ex-library hard covers sometimes from AbeBooks. Invariably, they go for $1.00. Shipping to a U.S. address averages less than $3.00. You get the stamp of which library it came from, the spine dewey decimal numbers, most times a clear plastic jacket cover. A very good deal imho, and ymmv.
No, regardless of who paid for them they are NOT yours for the taking. They are placed in a public trust in good faith that you will abide by the agreement you signed when you got a library card. That agreement stipulates that you agree to the library's policies for loan and use of library materials.
What you are saying is that you have the right to walk into ANY municipal facility and help yourself to whatever you want. I suggest you test your theory by walking into your local law enforcement office and helping yourself to a desk chair.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amelorn
How do you steal a x from y public/gov't agency? Taxes paid for them.
How do you steal groceries from a food stamp/WIC user? Your taxes paid for them.
How do you steal the money from Grandma's cashed social security check? You paid for that.
You are expropriating public public property. A somewhat less complicated word is "stealing."
What is even more sickening is that most libraries sell their old books for essentially next to nothing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianH
You should walk into a police parking lot and just drive off in their shiny new cars, its yours for the taking because your tax dollars paid for it :S
Quote:
Originally Posted by stan4
By that logic, you could take anything in the library (the computers, any book) or hell...why not take a police car or fire truck? Your tax dollars paid for them, right?
Newsflash to the above quotes: they are not reselling food stamps, police cars, desk chairs back to the general public. They are selling books back to the general public. That's what makes taking books they don't want different than a desk chair or police chair they are currently using.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stan4
NO. What's most sickening is that he stole them to resell them.
So using my taxes, messing up the books with tags and stickers, then selling it back to the public isn't sickening?
Quote:
Originally Posted by melaniej65
By your logic you have STOLEN from the rest of the public since your taxes alone did not fund every single book in the library.
If the rest of the public doesn't want it, it's not stealing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by laorbust61
Isn't the practice of county, state and federal government agencies selling their surplus items at auctions the same thing? And yet few would pass up the opportunity to purchase a gently used vehicle or piece of needed office equipment or furniture at a great price. The taxpayer paid for these things and yet one sole bidder will reap the benefit through his successful bid, not the masses of citizens who helped pay for the fleet car, the copier, the computer or whatever. Think about that.
I already thought about it. It's a corrupt practice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stagemomma
The used book market drives the price of used books. The library certainly has nothing to do with it. The library discards books that are no longer circulating because of their condition or because people just aren't interested.
Maybe they should keep the books with NO resale value for circulation and sell the valuable ones to the general public for 25 cents each?
A majority of the books sold by libraries were DONATED by the general public with the understanding that they will be LOANED by the library if needed or SOLD to make a profit. Some libraries do make some extra money by selling books online for the market price, but some do not have the time to set that up, and others feel that redistributing books to the general public via a book sale is a public service.
You would probably get better profits by selling your stolen books online. I have bought and sold discarded library books this way. (ones i acquired legally)
You can even use the computer at the public library to set up your online business!
The used book market does not drive up the price of used books. My local Half Price books sells books for as low as 50 cents. On Amazon you can get books for as low as a penny. You need to do some research more on the price of used books. How do you know the majority of books are donated by the general public anyway?
The problems with selling books online are greater than selling them to a brick and mortar store: it takes a longer time to sell the books; sometimes customers receive the books but then don't believe you labeled their condition properly so they want them back; mailing each and every individual book to a different buyer is a hassle; while you wait for people to buy your books, they are taking a lot of room in your house or storage for weeks, even months; etc.
Online takes so long to sell books. I don't like having them lying around for weeks or months while I wait for a sale.
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