Two months after he first discovered its absence and two days after the New York Observer found that Rogues’ Gallery still couldn’t be checked out of from the New York Public Library, the literary agent Richard Curtis (who is not my agent), reminds visitors to his ereads blog that it still can’t be checked out or reserved online — and asks them to buy it, but also to “let your local library know you expect it to carry Rogue’s Gallery.” I am, of course, grateful for his support and suggestions, though it would be nice if those who can’t afford the book could borrow it, as the libraries’ great benefactor Andrew Carnegie (a model philanthropist, as opposed to some) intended. A statement of the NYPL’s mission does appear online, and reflects what Carnegie also knew: “The New York Public Library is one of the cornerstones of the American tradition of equal opportunity. It provides free and open access to the accumulated wisdom of the world… It guarantees freedom of information and independence of thought… It helps ensure the free trade in ideas and the right of dissent.” Nice thoughts.