<
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/jan/09/the-incentive-to-steal-isnt-there-the-lost-cause-of-tracking-library-theft>
"A curious trend once gripped Australian libraries and it was concerned with
matters of the dark arts. “If you were wanting to see library books on the
occult and witchcraft, they were often missing,” says Cameron Morley. “Were
people who were really into that sort of thing taking the books? Or were
fundamentalist Christians taking the books because they didn’t want them to be
available?”
The head of public library services at the State Library of New South Wales is
today no closer to finding an answer than he was when the thievery was at its
height in the 1990s. In any case, it is hard to know whether the books were
stolen or lost – and his observation, though widely held, is anecdotal.
Few, if any, libraries truly know how many books are actually stolen. Lost
library books are a small part of the natural attrition of library collections
– normal wear and tear is expected and some are fatally damaged. But while
we’ve all lost a library book in our time, Morley estimates fewer than 1% of
loaned books across NSW public libraries go missing.
In Brisbane, where the city council oversees 33 libraries and a collection of
1.3m items, 29,343 books are considered lost or more than 48 days past their
due date. Overdue books, of which there are 31,906, form 2.9% of the libraries’
physical collections.
In Sydney’s Blacktown council, libraries made 1,361,430 loans in 2022-23. The
council’s library customer service coordinator, Samantha Cadwallen, can’t put a
number on it, but the most “stolen” book is the Bible, she says. Hitler’s
Mein
Kampf also has a habit of going missing, almost 100 years after it was first
published. High school resources are in high demand; a box of 24 Higher School
Certificate support books was recently returned to a different council – none
were out on loan.
In general, Morley says, many science fiction books – very popular and often
published in a series format – are as rare as hen’s teeth. “But whether they’re
stolen or they’re out”, he’s not sure. After all, why steal something that’s
free?
“I don’t feel like there’s something similar in public libraries as there is
with shoplifting – the incentive to steal isn’t there because you can borrow
it,” he says. “A certain small amount don’t come back and that’s just the way
it is.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
