Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-07
BOOKS AND CROOKS.
A Study Of People Who Steal From
Public Libraries.


From the Philadelphia Record.
While it may be taken for granted that
the great body of readers who frequent any
public library are honest, both in practice
and intention. there will always remain a
certain number who are conspicuously the
reverse. In all public libraries a large
number Of volumes disappear during the
twelve months of year; few of these
may have been lost through carelessness
while in circulation. but the greater num-
Der Of them have been stolen. This fact
being freely admitted in the reports Of all
librarians. the question naturally arises:
Who are the thieves? Do they steal the
books In order to sell them. or does their
dishonesty arise from a diseased love of
literature?
Melvil Dewey, who may be regarded as
an authority on the subject. has truthfully
declared that 1t is almost impossible to tell
a library thief at sight. He may hide his
dishonesty beneath an exterior SNUG and
sanctimonious as that of Pecksniff.
prominent lawyer of Brooklyn, of distin-
guished appearance and fine manners. made
a regular practice of stealing the periodi
Gals in a well-known public library. Being
caught at 1T one day and accused by the IL
brarian. he put on an air of great dignity.
holly declared he was insulted and walked
stolen was found thrown down in the
entry. and he never again reappeared in
that library. At the New York Mercantile
Library a young woman was discovered
leaving the rooms with one book, which
she was entitled to, in her hand, and five
others hidden under her cloak She proved
to belong to well-to-do family, and was
amply able to buy all the books she could
need.
The late DR.. William F. Poole who had
charge of the Chicago Public Library de-
CARDS books, an imperfect appreciation Of
the laws of meum tuum. He had found
ministers more remiss In returning books
than any other class of men. He did not
intend to reflect on a noble and sacred pro-
fession by charging the derelictions of the
few upon the many but he believed the
truth about the matter should be told. He
had had unpleasant experiences with men
Of that calling, who. after stealing books
from the library had removed the book
plates and library stamp and covered the
volumes with heavy paper, carefully pasted
down inside the covers, This statement
seems to be borne out by the record of the
Union Theological Seminary, at New York
in It's dealings with ministers and theology
cal students. According to the librarians
report the seminary has lost a thusand
volumes. taken out and not returned. This,
of course. included what were charged out,
but could not be recovered
The long history of the Mercantile Lii
brary Of Philadelphia furnishes many
strange cases of this form of petty larceny
AT a certain period IN the somewhat check
cred career Of this time onored institution
number of valuable books were missed
from it's shelves, and means were taken to
detect the culprit. This led to the discov-
cry that the thief was physician in the
most respectable rank in society, and more
than fifty volumes were found upon the
shelves of his private library and recovered.
Other examples of kleptomania in persons
of accepted social position have astonished
the custodians of this library from time to
time. but the means of preventing such
thefts has not yet been discovered.
1t may be gathered from these many
cases of library depredations that they are
very common. that perpetual vigilance Is
necessary in order to guard the books and
that In nearly all cases some form Of pun
ishment would be wiser than pardon. In
many cases Of detected theft strong appeals
are made by the culprit or his friends to
save exposure by public proceedings. These
appeals are commonly made not so much
to avoid paying fines imposed by law as to
avoid the disgrace attached to publicity. It
is probably true that in the majority of
cases such influence has been strong enough
to overcome the determination of the L.
brary authorities to let the law take its
course. Unfortunately. the consequence Of
such leniency seems to encourage the ex-
tremely lax conception OF the sacredness
of public property entertained by so many
men and women Of today.