Quran Defaced With Swastikas, Slurs at Evanston Public Library

EVANSTON, IL - Swastikas and racial slurs were recently found drawn on books about Islam at the Evanston Public Library.

Librarian Lorena Neal noticed eight of the books were defaced on Monday, according to an Evanston Now report. The books were to be used for a lecture that evening about the Qur'an with Northwestern University's Middle East and North African Studies program.

The Qur'an was one of the eight books defaced. A photo shared by Evanston Now shows one of the books with the words "(Expletive) hatred cover to cover" written on one of the pages.

"The discovery of graffiti in books about Islam is troubling," the library wrote in a statement on its website. "Free speech is one thing; defacing sacred texts and books about religion is quite another. Those who are caught defacing library materials will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

"The Library provides a welcoming place to come together and discuss ideas and consider different points of view... Our partnership with Northwestern’s Middle East and North African Studies program is an excellent example of bringing informative programs to our public library. One effective way to combat fear, hate and ignorance is to provide access to information, informed discourse, debate, and opportunities to listen to others."

The books that were defaced were not marked a week ago, the last time a librarian checked on them.

photo via Wikimedia Commons