This is NOT how you get rid of old books
Book-lovers, listen up. A heinous, terrible crime has been committed. And a man in Colorado — 62-year-old Glenn Pladsen — is the culprit, earning the infamous title of “Literary Litterbug.” Why? For tossing about 600 books out his car window, effectively shattering our literary-loving hearts. On Thursday, Pladsen pleaded guilty in court to three counts of littering, and he now must pay the consequences in the amount of 30 community service hours and $1,725 in restitution and court costs.
For months, residents of Longmont, Colorado were totally stupified by the sudden appearance of books on the side of U.S. 287, according to The Longmont Times-Call. Department of Transportation employees would come clean them up, but just a few days later, new ones would appear in their place. Later, in April, police officers solved the mystery by catching the Literary Litterbug in the act.
“I didn’t even know anybody even cared,” Pladsen told the Times-Call. “I just thought they were being blown in the ditch. That’s what I thought was happening.” WE CARE, GLENN. WE CARE.
It all started about eight years ago, when a local bookstore closed, and Pladsen bought thousands of the books, planning to sell them online. However, he couldn’t compete with Amazon. “The way they sell their used books put all the used book sellers out,” he told the newspaper. “I was left with thousands of books in the house.”
So for ages — he doesn’t even know when he started, though people started finding them in November — he has been tossing the books out the window. His excuse: He works long hours as a technician, and traveling to the landfill or Goodwill would be an extra trip. His arthritis keeps him from being able to lift them over his head to put them in a dumpster, he says. (IDK, maybe ask a friend for help, perhaps?)
He’s tried giving them to friends, but no one wants them, he explained. “My whole basement is full of books, and I need to get rid of them now,” he said. “I’ll stop doing what I’ve been doing, of course. . .I never did it when there were other cars around or in traffic. I had no idea it was a mystery. I would have stopped a long time ago if I though anybody cared.”
Not only did bookworms like us care, but the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) was pretty peeved. They’ve cleaned up hundreds of books on the side of the road. “It was a real safety hazard,” CDOT spokesperson Jared Fiel told Times-Call. “On the surface, this just looks like trash. But our guys had to go out on the median and pick these up one by one.”
We truly don’t understand this. You have over a thousand books — a precious commodity for many in the world — and instead of simply taking an extra trip to your local Goodwill, you decide to dump them out WHILE hurting the environment? Super classy.
PSA for anyone who wants to get rid of their books: take them to your local Goodwill, or library. Send them to organizations that will give them to soldiers, people in low-income areas, or people in prison. Give them to a book-loving friend who will give them a good home (*cough* like me *cough*). Here’s something we never thought we’d have to say: Don’t throw books out of your car window. Please and thank you.
(Image via Shutterstock.)
