“It bothers me because nobody is holding a gun to their head making them read these books,” said Elizabeth Potts, director of the county library. “If they don’t like them, they should just return them.”
Over the past several months, more and more books are being returned to the library with curse words crossed out by someone using blue ink. Officials believe the same person is responsible for all the unauthorized editing. So far, 50-100 books have been targeted by the perpetrator.
Potts said most of the books are mystery novels, though many questionable words, including the “f-word” published in the “9/11 Commission Report” have been crossed out. “This person is evidently offended by these words,” she said. “I’m more offended by (the suspect).”
Some of the most important works in American literature have questionable words in them, including “The Grapes of Wrath,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Gone with the Wind.”
Potts said the library doesn’t have the funds to replace the damaged books, so patrons are going to have to use their imagination. “They’re just going to have to guess what the word was,” Potts said.
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