This research paper examines the problems of theft of books and other personal property from libraries and legal and other measures which can be taken to deter it and to punish perpetrators. Thefts from public and educational libraries have emerged as a serious problem in recent decades. Governments at all levels have adopted laws criminalizing such activities. However, administrators of libraries have responded sluggishly to the threat posed by library theft. Tougher laws against library theft are only a part of the answer. The real keys to finding a solution to the problem is the willingness of library administrators and law enforcement officials to apprehend and punish offenders and to spend the money and effort needed to deter them, which is complicated by fiscal constraints on library budgets.
Library theft is a very old problem, as the following inscription found on the door of an ancient library in Barcelona, Spain indicates: "For him that stealeth a book from this library, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him" (Hirshman 52). As evidence grew that library theft was increasing at the same time as general crime rates were rising, some observers in the 1970s and 1980s warned libraries that they needed to organize themselves to cope with the problem. In their study of the experiences of three countries--Canada, Great Britain and the United States--Lincoln & Lincoln concluded that "each of the countries studied . . . has experienced increases in crime" (2). The rate of theft there, primarily of books but also of equipment and other personal property, was highest in the United States (Lincoln 48).
Some of the theft, such as of rare books, was part of an organized effort to profit from selling them at a profit. In 1995, Harvard University reported the loss of rare Moorish engravings from its Fogg Art Museum. Thirty-four-year-old Jose-
Carbonnel was arrested and charged eventually with the theft of these eng...