Posted on Sun, Dec. 11, 2005
Libraries tightening security as thefts rise
CHALLENGE IS TO BALANCE PRESERVATION, ACCESS
By Beth Musgrave And Linda Blackford
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITERS
Over the past year, dozens of librarians and curators from across Kentucky
have fired off letters to U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Coffman in
Lexington, urging her not to go easy on four defendants who stole rare
manuscripts and sketches from the Transylvania University special
collections library in December 2004.
The crime, they wrote, was serious. The four college-age defendants
assaulted a librarian and robbed the public of valuable and important
cultural history -- just to make a quick buck.
The letters' strong words were motivated by more than moral outrage. There
was also fear.
It's been a bad year for thefts from cultural institutions, libraries in
particular. Thursday -- just two days after the four defendants were
sentenced to seven years in federal prison for stealing from Transylvania --
news broke of another theft of historical artifacts from a Kentucky
institution. This time the thief was a 70-year-old retired executive who
pinched more than 53 documents and other objects from the Filson Historical
Society in Louisville.
In another high-profile case, a sharp-eyed librarian caught E. Forbes Smiley
III, a map expert, cutting rare maps out of books at the Yale University
library earlier this year.
Now librarians, curators and archivists -- the caretakers of the nation's
cultural, literary and historical treasures -- are getting tough on
security, tweaking policies and keeping a closer eye on their collections,
watching who comes in and what goes out.
But they face challenges in finding money to pay for more security as well
as balancing the needs of security with those of public access. Some say
cultural institutions have been reluctant to report thefts to authorities
because bad publicity might scare off would-be donors. Some security experts
say libraries in particular have been slow to realize that their special
collections are at risk.
A boom in popular interest in the antiquities trade, fanned by the Internet
and appraisal shows on television, could be providing motivation for the
crimes, some say.
Eric Brooks, the curator at Ashland, Henry Clay's historic home in
Lexington, and president of the Historical Confederation of Kentucky, said
he often receives calls from people who want him to appraise attic
treasures.
"As a result of EBay culture and shows like Antiques Roadshow, people have
learned that these things have a monetary value," Brooks said.
Mike Courtney, owner of Lexington's Black Swan books and a rare book dealer,
said the Internet has fueled not just awareness, but a market.
"Because of the Internet, there's more demand and it's easier. You can put
it online on EBay or a site and find a customer readily, which makes the
price go up."
Many institutions tightened security policies in 2000, after a book of
American Indian lithographs was stolen from Centre College in Danville.
Centre librarian Stan Campbell said access to the rare books collection has
been curtailed. Only those with a letter of introduction can look at
Centre's collections.
"It's unfortunate, but those are the steps we had to take," he said.
Many universities and institutions are reluctant to speak about security
changes in detail. As Susan Brown, head librarian at Transylvania, put it,
"the first rule of security is not to talk about security."
University of Kentucky officials said they have been looking into security
upgrades because of the Transylvania incident. Like other institutions, UK
has to weigh the needs of researchers who want to look at original documents
against increasing needs for security.
"There is a tension between use and preservation," said Bill Marshall,
curator of manuscripts at UK.
At Morehead State University, the viewing area for the special collections
is in a public area so that more than one librarian can watch to see if
someone is stealing, said Clara B. Potter, a Morehead librarian.
At the University of Louisville, a list of the library's special collections
is available online and in a paper catalog. The library has no plans to
change that policy any time soon, said James Anderson, a curator of
photographic archives at U of L.
"We're still open to the public, but we have more security measures in
place, such as a librarian would never be alone with someone that is looking
at something of value," Anderson said.
Centre's Campbell says the growth of the Internet is, in the words of
William Blake, "the marriage of heaven and hell" for libraries.
Like U of L, Centre has its special collections listed online. He thinks
that's how the thief found out about the American Indian lithographs. On the
other hand, the library was able to track down the stolen items by alerting
antiquarian experts through Internet mailing lists.
"It's an interesting paradox," Campbell said.
Stevan Layne, a security consultant who runs workshops for national museum
and library associations and advises institutions such as the Speed Museum
in Louisville, said making an institution's holdings public is not a
problem. What matters is the type of security a library or institution
employs.
Layne stresses thoroughly vetting those who view valuable items. Librarians
should also screen all packages, book bags and other material when someone
leaves a special collections area, he said.
Eileen Brady, a librarian at Washington State University who lectures around
the country on library security, says librarians tend to be "ostriches"
about crime.
"Part of the problem is that we have a culture of thinking that nothing ever
happens in libraries," Brady said.
"Things are improving, but not enough -- higher education is facing budget
shortfalls, and libraries aren't getting as much money as they used to."
Brady's institution was the victim of Steven Blumberg, one of the most
prolific book thieves in history. Blumberg stole $20 million in books and
documents from more than 300 libraries and museums in the 1980s.
A donor offered to buy the facility new electronic security equipment after
the thefts were discovered, Brady said.
In the Louisville case that came to light last week, the Filson's video
monitors picked up Donald E. Eckard, a 70-year-old advertising executive,
taking items from the historical society's collection. Richard H.C. Clay,
the Filson's lawyer, praised Filson's security systems and staff for
catching Eckard.
Most book thieves operate like Eckard, quietly stealing valuable sketches,
maps and letters over time. What shocked librarians about the Transylvania
theft was the physical assault on special collections librarian B.J. Gooch,
who was incapacitated with a stun gun and then tied up.
During this week's sentencing hearing for the four thieves -- Stephen
Reinhard, Eric Borsuk, Charles Allen II and Warren Lipka -- Gooch told a
federal judge that the scars from her assault are still fresh and deep. Her
terror was felt by her colleagues at other institutions.
The Transylvania case "combined the most frightening elements of blue-collar
crime with white-collar library crime," said Miles Harvey, an author of a
book about a famous map thief. "It was a like a 7-11 knock-off with armed
assailants while taking cultural artifacts."
Most librarians are women. And most special collections librarians work
alone -- like Gooch -- in specially designed soundproof rooms.
"As primarily women working in often isolated situations, we are always
vulnerable to these kind of attacks," wrote Potter, the Morehead State
University librarian, in a letter to Coffman.
Despite the recent cases, many institutions say they have no plans to bar
the public from their collections.
But Harvey is concerned that inadequate security and more thefts ultimately
will lead to less access to cultural objects.
"There is something incredibly powerful with coming in contact with books
that have been around for hundreds of years, thinking of the hands that have
touched it and the eyes that have wandered those pages," he said.
"It really does put you in touch with our history. For the sake of our
culture I think more people need to do that, not less."
Transylvania book thieves
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News researcher Linda Minch contributed to this report.
http://www.kentucky.com/