Those of us old enough to remember the glory days of actually using paste also remember the illicit thrill of sneaking tastes of it! Teachers and librarians were quick to stop it, usually exclaiming about the danger of eating paste. (Think about the stories of the danger of eating pop rocks and soda – it’s not real, but deliciously scary in the abstract!)

Did this poor man really die from eating library paste?? We have no way of knowing the reality. And while it seems really unlikely…maybe it could be a warning to patrons today who may be determined to do dangerous things in a library! (“Don’t send money to a Nigerian prince! You didn’t win the Irish Sweepstakes! The deposed head of an unnamed nation does not need you to hold his money! Look at this guy who died of eating library paste, and know we are here to look out for you!”)