In 2002, after asking themselves “What would be the most absurd place to picket? What is the one place that no one in their right mind would oppose?,” Improv Everywhere staged a fake protest, “Writers Against Piracy,” at the NYPL. WAP members chanted “Only crooks … check out books!” and said writers should receive royalties from libraries. (This is actually not as crazy as it sounds — I believe that in some countries authors do receive small payments based on library borrowing records. Anybody know more about that?)

In Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and Kevin Hawkes, a lion visits the library and causes some consternation to some of the librarians. This book makes me cry every time. Thanks, Amanda Newman!

To protest budget cuts, Improv Everywhere brought ghosts and Ghostbusters to the New York Public Library in the spring of 2010. Thanks, boingboing!