In the Middle Ages, creating a book could take years. Given the extreme effort that went into creating books, scribes and book owners had a real incentive to protect their work. They did not hesitate to use the worst punishments they knew – excommunication for the church and horrible, painful death. Curses such as, “Steal a book and be cleft by a demon sword,” were common. It was a time when people believed in them. If you ripped out a page, you were going to die in agony. Aren’t you glad we have a Public Library that only charges overdue fees instead of curses?