Theft of a library item can be both purposeful as well as unintentional. It is the permanent taking of any item or part of an item from a collection. Vandalism and theft have crossovers, but in general theft includes
More thefts happen with the perpetrator being an employee than not an employee. Typically, these thefts are also a crime of opportunity rather than thoroughly planned out. It is important that each employee takes theft seriously and that they work in a way that ensures they and their colleagues are blameless and do not have an opportunity to steal from the institution.
Purposeful, intentional theft of collection items need to be reported to UPD immediately if someone is witnessing it firsthand. After the situation has been addressed by UPD, the employees witnessing and dealing with theft can contact their supervisors, other staff, conservation, etc. for assistance. Again, employee safety is more important than collection item safety and acts of theft within the libraries need to be handled with care.
Theft involving an item never returned after being checked out is simply addressed through fines. Serious situations will involve being trespassed from the libraries and/or dismissed from library employment.
Tattle tapes are thin metal strips placed in collection items as a theft preventative. If they are not de-magnetized during check-out, the security gates at the entrances of libraries should be set off.
Tattle tape is typically placed in the book during the cataloguing process. If possible, those attaching the tattle tape to a hard back book should tape it along the inside of the spine. If it is a paperback book (or placing it along the spine is not possible), the tattle tape should be adhered on an inner page as close to the spine as possible. Keep to the single-sided tattle tape. The double-sided tattle tape can cause damage as the book ages.
If the book is repaired or re-bound in any way, conservation will apply new tattle tape along the spine of the collection item.
When security gate alarms go off, it is important that the person at the desk checks the person who is currently at the gate. It is possible that they have checked out the book, but it was not properly demagnetized. Demagnetize the checked-out item(s) again.
Even if you think the security gate is being faulty (i.e. employees or facilities crews are going through the gates instead of researchers, the researcher does not have a bag with them, etc.) it is still important that you check the person and whatever else is around, including their bags, jackets, etc. You need to get proof of site that the gates are, indeed, faulty before contacting facilities to have them check the security gates. An apology to the patron after a security check is better than letting them go. An employee should understand that they need to be checked if the security gates go off and they should help with contacting facilities to get the faulty gates repaired.
Security gates should also be set up in a way that people cannot bypass them easily when no one is looking. If you feel like your security gates are too easily bypassed, contact the head of your library and work with facilities to get this problem solved.
Large collections and/or stacks should not be too near entrances. Items close to an exit make it more of an opportunity for theft. A few paces away should be enough. Special open or no case displays involving collection items should never be right next to the security gates either. Again, a few paces away from the gates should be enough.
If you find that your security gates are being bypassed, good furniture placement and or display case placement can be useful. The display case should not include collection items, but facsimiles, training materials not catalogued, etc.
Partial theft of a collection item is typically not detected until long after the perpetrator can be identified. In most instances this includes someone removing a page or a picture on a page and then returning the collection item. It is important to remember that when an item is returned, employees need to flip through the book quickly to note any loss or damage. When loss is spotted, contact your supervisor and do a quick catalogue search to see if the perpetrator can be detected and fined.
Conservation can ILL the book and replace pages and pictures that have been removed. Request conservation as needed--there is no need for the employee to ILL the book, conservation will work through that process.
Partial theft can occur inside a library so if an employee sees partial theft happening, they need to approach the perpetrator, educate them on how collection items are treated, and follow up with fines and possible trespassing if the event is severe enough. Again, the employee's personal safety is more important than collection items so contact UPD if any employee feels threatened or endangered when approaching a patron regarding theft.
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