Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - July 30, 2003
Ethan Fletcher, Of The Examiner Staff
In early 2001, library staff in the main and Chinatown branches began to discover books that had been slashed beyond repair. The common thread of the vandalized books was that most dealt mainly with gay and lesbian topics, as well as women's health and AIDS.
The assault on the books left disturbing images: faces with the eyes and mouth cut out in repetitive almond-shaped gaps, multiple copies of the same book slashed in almost exactly the same manner.
By the time 46-year-old security guard John Perkyns was stopped by a librarian-turned-investigator in September 2002, he had irreversibly damaged 607 books.
In a special project by the library called Reversing Vandalism, artists will transform the hundreds of vandalized books into art for an exhibit planned for next spring.
Last Thursday, library staff worked on a pile of the titles in the bowels of the Main Library in the Civic Center.
Jim Van Buskirk, program manager of the library's James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center, spearheaded the campaign to turn the hate crime into something positive. He got the idea while going through the boxes of books returned by police after Perkyns was convicted.
"The more I looked at them the creepier it became," said Van Buskirk about the razor-slashed collection. "I knew I couldn't throw them away, because it would just reinforce the goal of the perpetrator."
Project staff had sent out about one hundred books, and hoped more would be requested once word of mouth spread. The cutoff date for artists working on the project is Friday, and the hope is that all art can be returned by Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day, according to curator Everett D. Erlandson, one of three people helping package books. A few completed works have already been turned in.
Buskirk said that it seemed like Perkyns was using the library's catalogues to hunt down homosexual-related books, as he also slashed books by author John Gay and a book about the Enola Gay, the World War II plane that dropped the atomic bomb. Perkyns never explained why he cut up the books although there was speculation religion had a part in it.
He received five years probation, mandatory counseling and had to pay the library $9,600 in damages.
"It made me sick to my stomach," said Van Buskirk, who had six copies of a book he co-authored slashed by Perkyns. "I think people are grateful for a way to express their outrage at this."
Perkyns did not respond to calls for comment.
For a request form or more information, contact www.sfpl.org or call 415-557-4566.
efletcher@examiner.com
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