A Library Phantom? Oh My!

So I was going to blog about something completely different tonight, but then I came across this story about the Library Phantom in Scotland. It is too cool of a story to pass up. Apparently, somebody has been leaving sculptures made from books at various different libraries, museums, and repositories in Scotland. When I say sculptures, don't envision those newspaper sculptures you made in elementary school. These sculptures are works of art, lovingly made, and then left anonymously for the world to enjoy.

I can't help but think that this sounds like something from a novel, or that an author somewhere must already be hard at work writing a story around this phenomena. The artist of these sculptures has left notes, that in short, express the love of the written word, the inspiration words/books bring, and a gratitude towards libraries. There are more photos at This Central Station that display the various wonderful details of these sculptures. They are truly delightful.

As genealogist we know how important libraries and repositories are for our research, and for the preservation of history and documents. More importantly, it is a place for children to become inspired, leave whatever troubles they have and lose themselves in a book. My kids love "the big quiet library" and I have to bring a bag to carry out all the books they have picked. Sadly, during economic downturns, these are some of the first places budget cuts are made. Hours or even days become slashed and staff are layed off. The artist of these sculptures gets it and hopefully the message is heard.