The following article appeared today in the Harvard Crimson. --ECW
++++++++++++++++++++
Status of Stolen Maps in Limbo
Libraries agree to keep 'positive and productive' meeting private
Published On Friday, August 11, 2006 5:42 AM
By BRITTNEY L. MORASKI
Crimson Staff Writer
Harvard College Library (HCL) administrators are staying mum about the
results of an Aug. 7 meeting between HCL and several other libraries who
have had maps stolen from their collections by map thief E. Forbes Smiley
III.
Federal authorities were also present at the meeting at Yale University,
which was held to determine ownership of the 97 maps that Smiley has
admitted to stealing over a seven-year period.
HCL Director of Communications Beth S. Brainard said that the meeting was
positive and productive, but that the libraries agreed not to comment on the
meeting's proceedings.
Harvard will not announce whether it will hire an investigator to determine
if Smiley took more maps than the eight he has admitted to stealing until
after Smiley is sentenced in mid-September.
The Aug. 7 meeting was intended to give libraries the chance to determine
which library each stolen map was taken from. The New York Public Library,
Yale University, the Boston Public Library, and the British Library all
claim to be missing maps that Harvard says it is missing.
Smiley's plea agreement lists what maps he stole and from which
institutions. But questions of ownership arose after multiple libraries
discovered that they had the same maps missing.
"Some of the institutions will come up with a longer list of missing items
after this meeting," Brainard told The Crimson at the end of July.
Brainard would not comment about whether the eight maps identified as
Harvard's were proven to belong to the University at Monday's meeting.
The next step for Harvard, other institutions, and dealers affected by
Smiley's thefts is to prepare victim impact statements that will give them
the opportunity to explain to the court what impact Smiley's crime has had
on them.
Such statements are a way for victims to describe how they've been affected
by a crime. The judge in a case can use that information to help in
sentencing and determining restitution, according to Justice Department
Public Information Officer Tom Carson.
Prior to Smiley's sentencing in federal court on Sept. 21, the probation
office will compile and write a pre-sentencing report that will be submitted
to the judge, Carson said.
After federal sentencing, Smiley will then be sentenced in Connecticut state
court on Sept. 22, according to The New York Times.
Smiley faces up to ten years in prison and a fine of over 1.6 million
dollars. However, his suggested sentence is 57 to 71 months, according to
sentencing guidelines.
At Harvard, the librarians and administrators who attended the Aug. 7
meeting will work on the victim impact statement in the coming month,
Brainard said.
Though Smiley has admitted to stealing 97 maps, libraries have discovered
additional maps missing in books that Smiley is known to have seen. The
British Library has hired its own prosecutor to look into additional maps
missing from its collection located in books Smiley has viewed, and the five
maps still missing from Harvard's collection-in addition to the eight
admitted by Smiley-were located in books Smiley has viewed before.
Brainard said that HCL has not ruled out taking its own legal action against
Smiley. "There's nothing that says we've chosen one course of action or
another," Brainard said.
"Our biggest concern right now is just getting the maps physically back in
our collection," she said.
Everett Wilkie, a library security professional, said that Smiley's thefts
have "no doubt" caused libraries to improve their security, such as by
installing closed-circuit televisions, restricting access to certain
materials, increasing supervision, and starting to mark material more
aggressively to make stolen items harder to sell.
Because of the relative ease of concealing a sharp object intended to be
used for removing maps from books, map thieves are difficult for library
security personnel to discover.
"The problem is that what you need to remove a map is so small that it's
almost impossible to detect," Wilkie said.