Librarians in Idaho are hunting down a mysterious person who is purposely hiding anti-Trump and progressive political books

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Librarians in Idaho are hunting down a mysterious person who is purposely hiding anti-Trump and progressive political books

Idaho library

KREM

A still from KREM's report inside Couer D'Alene Public Library, where someone is hiding books that criticize Trump, like "Fire and Fury."

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  • Someone keeps hiding an Idaho library's books that criticize Trump or promote progressive values, putting them in obscure parts of the library where people can't find them.
  • Coeur d'Alene Public Library staff haven't been able to figure out who has been moving the books over the past few months, but they say their library is intended to provide books for the whole community.
  • The culprit wrote a note, saying: "I am going to continue hiding these books in the most obscure places I can find to keep this propaganda out of the hands of young minds."
  • Books that have been hidden include "Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump" and Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury," and staff once found a pile of Trump-critical books hidden under a shelf of dictionaries.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Librarians in Idaho are hunting for a person who's been moving books that are critical of President Trump or explore progressive ideas to hidden corners of the library.

Staff at Coeur d'Alene Public Library have noticed over the last few months that the books, which range from those that are anti-Trump to those that examine gun policy, keep being moved to areas where readers would struggle to find them.

Bette Ammon, the library's director, told The New York Times that she and other staff in the library have been on the lookout for the culprit, but that they are yet to catch anyone in the act - though they do have hunches about who it might be.

Whoever it is recently left a note for the library staff, writing: "I am going to continue hiding these books in the most obscure places I can find to keep this propaganda out of the hands of young minds."

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"Your liberal angst gives me great pleasure," the note continued.

Ammon told CBS affiliate KREM in September that the books that are being moved are "books that are critical of the president and the current administration."

Books that have been moved include "Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump" and Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury."

"We've found [the books] at the end of the fiction section, hidden behind the 'W's' in a real secret place," Ammon told KREM. Once staff found books about Trump hidden under a shelf of dictionaries, KREM reported.

Idaho library

KREM

The sign for Coeur D'Alene Public Library.

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Ammon said that she posted a notice after the anonymous note, writing: "If you have recommendations on titles you'd like the library to buy, please let us know."

Ammon told KREM that the culprit's strategy isn't successful if their goal is to stop people from seeing the books.

"These books keep disappearing and we keep buying new copies because people keep wanting them. And then we find the hidden copies," she said.

"So it's not really working well for the person who wants to keep other folks from reading."

But she did say that it was becoming expensive for the library: "That's extra tax money." She also said it was taking "valuable time" away from her staff.

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Ammon told the Times that "We serve the entire community."

She told the Times this month that, after KREM's report in September, someone called the library to praise the book hider's strategy, saying that the library only carried books that pushed liberal values.

Trump Commander in Cheat

KREM

"Commander in Cheat," one of the books that has been hidden in the library.

But Ammon had told KREM that the library "tries hard to purchase well-reviewed books on all sides."

"We serve a diverse community, so we buy a lot of different books," she said.

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She was critical of the strategy, regardless of what type of book they are trying to hide.

"Anybody who takes away the opportunity to read from someone else, whether they steal a book, check it out and don't return it, or hide it. They're destroying somebody else's right to read."

Ammon told KREM that she wanted to meet and talk to the culprit about why they were doing it, rather than ask them to stop coming to the library.

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