Late-night TV spoofs Cd'A book hider

The book-hiding bandit who proclaims he’s hoping to create “liberal angst” by hiding left-leaning books at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library has already attracted attention from CNN and The New York Times. Now late-night TV is chiming in. The Late Show host Stephen Colbert on Friday called out the provocateur who has been hiding books critical of President Trump and issues including gun control and the LGBTQ community.

“This jerk is taking library books at the Coeur d’Alene library and putting them back in the wrong place so clearly the suspect is … anyone who’s ever used a library!” Colbert quipped.

Colbert takes a jab at the scofflaw, saying all he’s doing is making the librarian’s job harder.

“In the ranking of library villains you’re just below the toddler pooping in the puppet nook,” Colbert teasingly taunts.

The host says he was particularly offended by the displacement of the book “Whose Boat is

This Boat?” which was compiled by The Late Show staff using public comments made by Trump in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, which hit North Carolina in September 2018.

“Oh no … oh, no, no,” Colbert says. “You done messed up, bookie boy.”

In hopes of countering the book hiding schemer, The Late Show is sending an “unhideable” 4-foot-by-3-foot edition of “Whose Boat is This Boat?” to the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.

“Good luck hiding this sucker,” says Colbert, who signed the book.

The oversized book comes complete with a library check-out card and is outfitted with an anti-theft garment tag for good measure.

On Oct. 16, The Press reported that someone

was hiding library books critical of Trump or promoting women’s right to vote, LGBTQ rights and other issues. Acclaimed writer Rick Reilly, whose book “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump,” was one of the hider’s targets. Reilly will visit the library this Thursday at 7 p.m.

Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer said he hopes The Late Show publicity works as a deterrent to the perpetrator.

“The book hiding is a negative. We don’t want to see it,” Widmyer said Sunday. “Maybe taking a light-hearted approach of shining a light on it will solve the problem.”