A Footnote (20.07.2002)
In what later became a notorious media event, librarian Marvin S________ was found to be breeding bookworms in the library’s basement. When questioned by authorities, Mr S________ declared:
It is for the cause of science; and if I am permitted to advance the light of understanding even one inch against the dark of ignorance, my efforts shall not have been in vain. Them little buggers were my life’s work, and I could not allow anything to stop me.
It took exterminators three weeks to rid the building of the infestation. More than 17,000 volumes are believed to have been destroyed by Mr S________’s bookworms, including the library’s copies of rare works such as Q. Tavail’s Amores (with Hedgehog) and L. P. Flackeray’s On the Sketchy Side.
Mr S________’s lawyers have informed us that the results from this research will be published in the journal Science.