who would steal a book?

i was at borders earlier today only to find the cafe closed and the book i needed longer in stock. while browsing for something else to redeem my 30% off coupon on (i eventually picked albert camus' the fall), i noticed that some books had security stickers stuck between their pages. you know what i'm talking about. those magnetic stickers they place on cds and dvds to keep you from tucking them into your underpants and walking out the store. those stickers that signal the embarrassing alarm when a cashier forgets to deactivate them. those stickers that we would peel off items and drop into the coats and bags of unsuspecting strangers for the enjoyment of watching them being scrutinized by security guards and acne-infested teenage employees.

i can understand why someone would want to steal a cd or dvd. i have a friend who habitually copies and/or downloads music and movies. thats just something that people do. on the other hand though, stealing a book just seems so much more immoral to me.

i don't ask this because i feel like a book is something not worth stealing. it's not a rhetorical question. obviously the threat exists or borders would not be using the little security stickers on books. i ask this because to me, stealing a book is just wrong. more wrong than just stealing. the eighth commandment says what is bad. the subclause to the eighth commandment says what is really bad.

8b. and though shall not steal a book, for he that stealeth a book shall be damned for all eternity and shall receieveth really bad diarrhea.

i guess, for me, books have a value in them that movies and cds cannot have. it's hard to describe what it is, but it's there. for those of you who enjoy books as much as me, you can probably understand how i feel.

however, i must admit that some movies can come close to this level. fight club and duck tales: the movie - treasure of the lost lamp come close, but there is still a drastic difference. read the book fight club, and you'll understand.