The ghost books vanish. They vanish over time without being checked out, and despite the security system; or they are checked out by people who don't seem to exist any more; or are mysteriously mis-shelved. All of Antonio Garcez' Adobe Angels titles vanish; Allan Pacheco's book (Ghosts-murder-mayhem, a chronicle of Santa Fe : lies, legends, facts, tall tales, and useless information) vanishes. These books have a great word of mouth reputation among the students; kids come in and ask for them all the time. Usually we have to suggest that they put a hold on the few remaining circulating copies (which are of course out), and meanwhile offer to let them read a reference copy from the Southwest Room. Often they do just that. (You weren't imagining that kids don't read, were you?) The books are hard to replace, or maybe impossible now. We thought when Antonio Garcez put all the Adobe Angels titles into one volume, New Mexico Ghost Stories, that we could get a zillion of them and take care of the demand. But the publisher immediately disappeared. And anyway the kids never feel that they are getting the real thing if it doesn't say "Adobe Angels" on the cover.
Other titles: Haunted highway : the spirits of Route 66 by Ellen Robson & Dianne Halicki. Spooky Southwest : tales of hauntings, strange happenings, and other local lore retold by S.E. Schlosser. If you see a used copy around town of any of the titles we've mentioned, ask the bookseller to hold it for us and let us know! Meanwhile, yes, you can always read a reference copy.
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