u/ScholarDreamer

First thing, thanks to everyone for their suggestions, in particular those who pointed out the use if the Barcode for used book dealers.

The book shown, has had multiple things attempted. There is clear packing tape over the ink stamp and the white labels.

My initial work will be to try to use easily available common household items and start testing the simplest ideas first and then work from there.

First let me report on what doesn't work.

1. Just ink stamping it on glossy covers is messy, smudges off and can be removed with a facial tissue and rubbing alcohol or just a lens wipe. It tends to smear from ordinary handling. Rubbing the surface with rubbing alcohol as a surface pretreatment doesn't improve the printing. See the mess the ink stamp has become.

2. I used a sharpie over barcodes and easily wiped off the sharpie with 91% alcohol as sold by Walmart.

3. I used a sharpie on the back cover to see if the ink solvent mixture would penetrate through the cover and spoil the barcode. Some slight graying of the white could be seen in one case, but not another. Further, in the case of the one book where some slight penetration, the barcode turned out to be on a lable that went on the printed book, but was beneath the glossy finish. THIS LINE OF INQUIRY WILL NOT BE FURTHER RESEARCHED.

So what works and what did I do.

1. I did vertical lines with a ball point pen on the bar code. It breaks up the glossy coating. When I went over with a sharpie some of the marker penetrated into the paper and I think helped make the bar code unusable.

I then put an adhesive lable on it which would now bind to paper fibers exposed. I in stamped the paper label. I then applied packing tape over the labels. When trimming the label, you should make sure there are no sharp corners, by cutting it so corners are curved. See picture. I RECOMMEND THIS AS A MINIMAL THING TO DO NOW FOR BAR CODES AND ISBN NUMBERS..

I did another book and it had a barcode that was smaller and it looked better than the book in the picture. I strongly recommend AGAINST having the white labels overlap.

2. For cases where I stamped the book, I applied packing tape over it. It at least stops smearing and it can't be removed by rubbing alcohol.

3. I did Experiment #1 above with scratching with an exacto blade and it didn't seem to work to break up the coating. Of course coating chemistry and specifications might vary. So this result isn't conclusive.

Next work.

1. I ordered clear adhesive mailing labels to try out. They won't have corners that can be caught by finger nails easily to remove them. However, I don't know if they will stick as strongly as packing tape. They will be more convenient to use.

2. Instead of trying to scrap off the coating, I am going to try shallow cuts with the exacto so the sharpie can soak into the paper.

3. I am going to test other common house hold liquids if used as a pretreatment. they modify the surface for better ink stamping and resistance for removal.

4. I am going to look at sanding/abrading the bar code. Then sharpie. Then white label, then clear adhesive film.

5. Wood branding burners. (Maybe.)

6. Nail polish remover to remove the cover coating.

7. Embossing stamp. Though this might be more than what people want to spend.

I will issue another report on my results.

We have a person in our area known for stealing books from Little free libraries and selling them to used book stores. So I ordered a stamp and I stamp twice on the inside covers, title page, copyright page, and last page.

However, stamping the covers is more of a problem. When I have to stamp the cover of a book with glossy finish, I have to let it dry 15 minutes, then carefully turn it over and lay it on a face tissue, then stamp the other cover. It takes hours to fully dry, but it can be easily removed with a lens wipe.

Can you purchase a press that embosses text? What do people do. Perhaps a super tough label that can't be peel applied over the stamped text? Perhaps a heated stamp to burn the text on. I don't know. I think that someone has solved this problem before.

To work around censorship and help out the next generation I am also mailing notices to Little Free Libraries across the nation, offering this book for free. However, I think that also posting here would help. The book is G rated. Again, the book and shipping is free.

HOWEVER, to avoid being pranked, the procedure will be as follows:

1. A request for the book needs to be made. Your little library needs to be on the Little Free Library map, be a private residence, have a picture of the little library on the map.
2. I will mail a letter to your free library with my email address and a link to the pdf book so you can download it and preview it if you wish. You can then use my email to contact me and complete the request.
3. Then I will mail the book in a plain package to you. I do book mailings on Friday.

I installed the first, I believe, Gay Little Library in the nation. I registered it with the Little Free Library organization. So I think in this new concept and Dallas is the first to have one. Let me know if I am wrong.

To combat censorship, we can repurpose Little Libraries as ways to bypass censorship. I call upon people to consider getting a Little Free Library to help bypass censorship.

Given the current environment of censorship in Texas, with Gay books being pulled out of school libraries and LGBT classes being shutdown in Texas, I decided to have a Gay Little Library installed on my property. It will be Gay since I am going to put Gay books in it. It will be PG. I am going to have the poems of Constantine Cavafy, but not Mutsuo Takahashi. I don't want to give homophobes a pretext to denounce it.

I have other books on order and they will arrive Monday, May 15th.

The Gay Little Library is made of recycled plastic. I was going to paint it rainbow colors, but I like the cobalt blue color. I will likely put a sign next to it when the books come in.

To be able to resist vandalism, it is supported by two steel tubes going into concrete. The tubes are surrounded by the wood to look nice.

When I was growing up in the 1950s and 60s and during college in the early 1970s, I existed in an absolute information vaccum. Regardless of what happens, I hope to resist to the end that situation doesn't arise.

There is an ongoing purge of books for the LGBT in libraries here in Texas. It is the "Gay Little Library" on the Little Library map of Little Libraries, #224911. I am just loaning books. I am not asking for any books. I can afford to just buy replacements. The contractor came up with the design. It is actually supported by two steel posts into cement. I purchased the assembled library from Little Library. It is well built. The wood post is decorative. He selected the staining color. I am going to have books that are PG. Constantine Cavafy's poems. Petronious Satyricon. Gay Buddhist books. I wrote a book for Gay young people focused on practical information on succeeding as a Gay person. It is G rated. My house is in the background. I was a principal engineer in semiconductor processing, I am a university published author in history/cultural geography, people interview me about my Gay activist past.