ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 460 Without a cross word One library’s answer to torn out text by M ary Van Ornunn I t happens in the best o f libraries. A reader turns to an an tic ip a te d section o f a p u b li­ c ation only to find th a t the very text he or she seeks is m issing. An article in a m edical jo u rn al has been surgically excised. A case in a law jo u rn a l has suffered a change o f venue. T h e in te rv iew in R olling Stone has traveled. T h e cen terfo ld in — well, you get the p ictu re. All are exam ples o f m aterial rem oved by library patrons. T h e p re d ato r m ay use a utensil (blade, scissors, w et string) or sim ply tear o u t the sec­ tio n by h a n d , b u t w hatever the m eth o d , the m aterial is m issing for the next reader. In one cliptom aniacal case at Vassar C ollege L ibrary in Poughkeepsie, N ew York, it was the daily disappearance o f the crossw ord puzzle from a heavily read new spaper. H e re ’s w hat h a p p en e d to us and w hat we d id a b o u t it. In the su m m er o f 2 0 0 2 , o u r lib ra ry sta ff discovered th a t th e daily crossw ord puzzle in a N ew York new spaper was being m ysteriously and, w ith surgical-like p recision, neatly razored from its page. W e say m ysteriously because, u nlike m any libraries th a t keep daily papers at the circ u la tio n desk for c h eckout a n d re tu rn , Vassar places its new spapers on o pen shelving in a com fortable b u t u n m o n ito re d soft-seating area. We therefore c a n n o t track w ho last read w h ich issue, or in w h a t c o n d itio n it was re­ tu rn e d to the shelf. F u rth e rm o re , p a tro n s m ay to te periodicals to any p a rt o f the three-level library, a nd leave th em in th a t lo cation to be collected and reshelved. T h e vanishing puzzle p roblem w e n t on for weeks. We considered a variety o f approaches. W e c o uld p o st a sign near th e new spapers, re­ m in d in g readers n o t to m u tilate (a p re p o ster­ ou s message given V assar’s g en teel e n v iro n ­ m en t). W e c o uld hide b e h in d a p o tte d fern in gum shoe fashion, spying on p a tro n s in hopes o f id en tify in g the d e lin q u e n t, b u t we h ad no p o tte d fern. W e c o uld assign a sta ff m em ber to sit nearby, p re te n d in g to read w hile a ttu n e d to every suspicious m ove, b u t th a t was too obvi­ ous, and an im practical use o f a staffer’s tim e. T h e n , I h ad an idea: Reach the cryptic c u l­ p rit in his or her ow n m an n e r by c o m m u n ic a t­ ing th ro u g h a crossw ord puzzle. In this m a n ­ ner, we h o p e d to b o th get o u r p o in t across and b rin g dow n the incidence o f clipping. U sing M icrosoft W ord, I created a table and w orked the grid, ra ndom ly em ploying words th a t expressed the uncivil behavior o f T h e C lip ­ per (as o u r sta ff h a d by now d u b b e d the m is­ creant) a n d its effect on the rest o f the library com m unity. W ith in an hour, I designed a simple crossw ord puzzle (see illu stra tio n on the next page) th a t directly addressed the clipping p ro b ­ lem. R a th e r th an g e ttin g snippy, th e puzzle’s to n e was p lea sa n t, yet its p u rp o se firm and clear. T h e w ords o f the puzzle, its clues and defi­ n itio n s were k e p t to a th ird -g ra d e reading level I About the author Mary Van Ornum is serials assistant a t Vassar College Library, e-mail: mavanornum@vassar.edu mailto:mavanornum@vassar.edu C&RL News ■ July/August 2003 / 461 a n d w ere lim ite d to r e p e ti­ tio n o f a single them e: T h is e behavior) is w r o n g . O t h e r s a re a f ­the students, fected. Please stop.every day n o w F o r exam ple: T h e answ er to th e clue for 9 Across (Tear o u t) was “R ip ,” a n d the a n ­ sw er to th e clue fo r 14 D o w n (D a y w h e n p u z z le w ill no longer be c u t o u t) was “T o­ day.” To assure th a t th is m es­ sage g ot across to T h e C lip ­ p e r, I p h o to c o p ie d m y a u th e n tic -lo o k in g crossw ord at a reduced size so th a t its m ea­ su re m e n ts e q u aled th o se o f th e n ew spaper puzzle. N e x t, a t th e t im e o f th e p a p e r ’s early m o rn in g delivery before c h e c k -in , I c arefully affixed th e fake puzzle over th e n e w sp a p er’s p rin te d one. Finally, I shelved the b a ite d n e w sp a p er a n d w aited. W o u ld th e o f f e n d in g i n d iv i d u a l be o f ­ fended? W o u ld the p a p e r be m aliciously ta m ­ p e red w ith again? O r h a d th e p o lite p e titio n co n v in c ed T h e C lip p e r to retire th e razor? H a rn essin g m y curiosity, I w a ite d u n til af­ te r 3 p .m . to c heck th e news. T h e th o u g h t o f a n o th e r c u t o u t p u z zle w as, w ell, c rim in a l. W h e n I finally w e n t up to p eek at th e paper, I fo u n d th a t th e Vassar h o m em a d e p u zzle-w ith- a -m e ssag e h a d b e e n re m o v e d , b u t t h a t th e n e w sp a p er’s puzzle re m a in e d in ta c t for th e first tim e in th ree weeks. A flo o d o f q u e s tio n s fo llo w e d . W as th is ju s t a fluke, and w ould the culprit reconsider his or her response and strike again tomorrow? Per­ haps T h e C lipper had n o t come in to read the paper and som eone else h ad intercepted the mes­ sage. But the next day, the day after that, and the day after that, the paper’s puzzle remained. Since th a t su m m er m o rn in g , th e crossw ord puzzle has n o t b een ta m p e re d w ith , except for a few p e rn ic io u s p e n s. W e n e v er d iscovered w h o th e c u lp rit was. Vassar tells th is tale sim ply because it illus­ trates a u n iq u e , effective a p p ro ac h to a fa m il­ iar p ro b le m . In o u r case, th e case o f th e p u r ­ lo in e d puzzle was resolved. P e rh a p s y o u r li­ b ra ry can a d a p t or rew ork th is idea a n d p u t it to use in successful ways. ■ Crossword Today’s th e m e : CUT IT OUT (n o t th e puzzle, th Prepared on b e h a lf o f the Vassar Com m unity— faculty, and s ta ff who fin d the paper they share m u tila te d by a single individual. Across 1 .Cease 2. S e lf-c e n te re d 3. E ve ryo n e lo o k in g fo r w a r d t o c ro s s w o rd p u z z le t h a t w a s c u t o u t 4. B e lo w th e s ta n d a rd s o f h u m a n dece ncy 5. O n ly o n e w h o m a tte rs 6. P etty 7. R em ove th e c o n te n ts 8. N e w s p a p e r t h a t does n o t b e lo n g t o y o u 9. Tear o u t 10. F e e lin g o f lib r a ry users w h e n m a te ria l is abused 11. D estroy; d is fig u re 12. O ffe n s e ; w r o n g d o in g 13. M a k e a c o n c lu s io n a b o u t th e c u lp r it Down 1. First le tte rs o f w o rd s “ se lfish ” a n d “ s n e a ky” 2. S o m e o ne w h o ta k e s w h a t is n o t th e irs 3. Purchase 4. A g a in s t th e 7 th C o m m a n d m e n t 5. In te r io r g u id e lin e s o f r ig h t a n d w r o n g 6. W h a t p h o to c o p y m ach in e s d o 7. Pay f o r s u b s c rip tio n w it h o w n fu n d s 8. M isdeed 9. R ig h t o r b e n e fit t o be resp e cte d 10. D is h o n o r; consciousness o f g u ilt 11. D e s tru c tio n 12. Incise, dissect, tr im , sever 13. D a m a g e b e y o n d r e p a ir 14. Day w h e n puzzle w ill no lo n g e r be c u t o u t 15. F e llo w n e w s p a p e r readers 16. O ffe n s e a g a in s t m o ra l la w