To Punch or not to Punch?

I live in a house full of bookworms. I am the original -- these days, my library card is practically smoking, it's getting so much use -- and I'm proud to say that I'm raising two little bookworms in my image. (My oldest daughter is so into her books that I've had to give her parameters: no, you may not bring that book to a birthday party; no, you may not read at the brunch table on Mother's Day; etc.)

I say this so that you know how much we revere books around here. Because of that, I'm having a crisis of conscience over the fact that I've been using vintage books for crafting supplies. On the one hand, these are books that have basically been rescued from the thrift store, and their wonderful graphics, text and images can be recycled into myriad useful things as well as wonderful altered art creations.

On the other hand, as I rip a page from the binding, or punch out a cute illustration, I feel guilty about it. It's like my inner librarian is screaming at me: "Don't damage the books!"

I'm not sure how to resolve this inner conflict. But I do think that the square scalloped punches are darn cute, no?

Oh well, back to my library book!