VANDALS IN LIBRARY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22006, 12 January 1935, Page 13

VANDALS IN LIBRARY

THEFT ANI) MUTILATION

VALUABLE WORKS TAKEN

LOSSES IN CHRISTCHURCH

There is, it seems, little limit to the lack of respect .and consideration shown by some persons to property acquired for the good of the community. The Christchurch Press a few days ago referred to examples of vandalism at the Canterbury Museum in Christhurch in cutting labels and in mutilating exhibits. These actions have their counterpart in the activities of some persons who frequent the various departments of the Public Library, in the same city, as was revealed when inquiries were, made there this week. The assistant-librarian, in giving some details of the losses continually suffered by the library, remarked that the great majority of those who took advantage of the facilities offered by the institution gave reasonable care and attention to the books borrowed from the circulating library, and treated the files in the reading and reference rooms with proper respect. In the first department a fairly rigid check is possible, as the name of the borrower of each book is recorded, and damage can frequently be traced to the person responsible. In the other two departments such a check cannot be kept and the library in this matter depends on the public conscience. Some valuable books have disappeared entirely, notable instances being Webster's dictionary, Chambers' dictionary, G. D. H. Cole's "The Intelligent Man's Guide Through World Chaos," Dyke's "Auto Encyclopaedia," Fowler's "Modern English Usage," books on Pitman's and Gregg's shorthand, a work on Scottish plaids and tartans, W. Gaurian's "Bolshevism: Theory and Practice." and many others. Recently a new type of thief was revealed. A book which appeared to be still on the shelves was really not there; all the pages had been removed, the cover alone having been returned to the book's proper place. Some, who would probably deny quite indignantly that they had been guilty of any kind of theft, acquire a volume surreptitiously for a period, and replace it on the shelf at a later date. This, it appears, applies most frequently to books connected with the university syllabus in particular subjects for the year. The assistant-librarian remarked that it was quite impossible to keep safely the bound volumes of examination papers, except by placing them under lock and key. Text-book "cribs" have also been in creat demand, until most of those formerly in the library disappeared. Another annoying practice is that of mutilating books, a practice from which the Christchurch library suffers more than from the complete loss of books. Last year someone with a particular interest in spiritualism helped himself to the article on the subject in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His action has been commemorated by tho library staff through a note, which may, it is hoped, prove salutary, pasted into the volume and stating:—"Pages 239 to 246 have been torn out by some contemptible sneak."