[Balin] Judging a book by its cover

[Balin]

There is a book in my home that I intend to donate to a local library. Before donating it, I intend to disfigure the book. Why?

[Doriana]

Is the book fiction? non-fiction? reference? Is it aimed at children? teens? adults?
Do you donate the book with the intention that it will be used as a regular library book, i.e. staff will put it on the shelf and people can check it out? Or as decoration? as part of an exhibition? as an art project?
Do you intend do disfigure it by tearing out pages? Glueing pages together? Removing the cover? Altering the cover? Blacking out words? Highlighting text? Writing or drawing in the book?

WAG: Is it one of those personalized kids' books that contain the kid's name in the story? And you intend to white out the name either for privacy reasons? Or so that parents/kids can more easily substitute their own name when reading it?

[Doriana]

Second wag: Is it a signed copy? And you want to keep the autograph, so you just remove that one page?

[trebor]

Library = regular old public library? University/college library? High school library? Elementary school library? Another type of library entirely?

Have you written in the book? Has someone else? Is it a choose your own adventure? A crossword/sudoku book? A book by our Admin, wherein you marked who had done what puzzle so you could remember and have reference? (That's what my dad and I did.)

Is the title of the book relevant? Will the disfigurement make a joke? (ie, an encyclopedia labelled "Dis - Fig"...) Will it make reading the book easier for the people who borrow it? Will it mark it as being a book you've already read, just in case you forget you've read it and go to check it out? Will the disfigurement help the librarians? Library patrons? You? Anyone else?

Is it relevant how the book came into your possession? Did you get it from a different library? And now need to hide the evidence? From a brick-and-mortar bookstore? If so, used?

[wwhere]

Just a quick slightly obscure question, as an idea came directly to my head, but do not want to spoil the fun if that is the solution. Is by any chance a certain book published in 1939 with a cover by Stephen Bellman?

[Balin]

Is the book fiction? This non-fiction? reference? Is it aimed at children? teens? adults? This
Do you donate the book with the intention that it will be used as a regular library book, i.e. staff will put it on the shelf and people can check it out? Yes Or as decoration? as part of an exhibition? as an art project?
Do you intend do disfigure it by tearing out pages? Glueing pages together? Removing the cover? Altering the cover? This Blacking out words? Highlighting text? Writing or drawing in the book?

WAG: Is it one of those personalized kids' books that contain the kid's name in the story? And you intend to white out the name either for privacy reasons? Or so that parents/kids can more easily substitute their own name when reading it? No

Second wag: Is it a signed copy? And you want to keep the autograph, so you just remove that one page? No, but I like the guess

Library = regular old public library? Yes University/college library? High school library? Elementary school library? Another type of library entirely?

Have you written in the book? No Has someone else? No Is it a choose your own adventure? No A crossword/sudoku book? No A book by our Admin, wherein you marked who had done what puzzle so you could remember and have reference? (That's what my dad and I did.) Afraid not

Is the title of the book relevant? No Will the disfigurement make a joke? No (ie, an encyclopedia labelled "Dis - Fig"...) I wish! Will it make reading the book easier for the people who borrow it? No Will it mark it as being a book you've already read, just in case you forget you've read it and go to check it out? No
Will the disfigurement help the librarians? Library patrons? This You? Anyone else?

Is it relevant how the book came into your possession? No Did you get it from a different library? And now need to hide the evidence? From a brick-and-mortar bookstore? If so, used? I bought it from a used bookstore

Just a quick slightly obscure question, as an idea came directly to my head, but do not want to spoil the fun if that is the solution. Is by any chance a certain book published in 1939 with a cover by Stephen Bellman? It is not (EDIT: I looked up which book you were referring to. That'd definitely be one to alter as well were it the solution.)

[irishelk]

Are you altering the: title? author name? illustration? Some other writing on the cover? Altering the entire cover (e.g., scribbling across the whole thing)?
Are you writing something? Drawing something? Removing something? Making a physical alteration to the cover, like tearing it?

WAG #57: Does the cover reveal the ending of the story, so you are trying to save future readers from $poilers?

[Balin]

Are you altering the: title? author name? illustration? This Some other writing on the cover? Altering the entire cover (e.g., scribbling across the whole thing)?
Are you writing something? Drawing something? Removing something? Making a physical alteration to the cover, like tearing it? This

WAG #57: Does the cover reveal the ending of the story, so you are trying to save future readers from $poilers? 57th time's the charm...

****SPOILER****

I have a copy of Rex Stout's A Family Affair (the final Nero Wolfe book) with a major spoiler on the cover as a small part of the cover art. I want to donate this book to the library, but I don't want anyone borrowing it to be spoiled by the cover, so I'll scratch out that part of the artwork before donating it.

(The book has made a previous appearance on the forum, in this puzzle, which was a gender-swapped autobiographical story.)

Well-WAG'd.

[irishelk]

Nice one, and a very charitable act (of vandalism) on your part.