From the NY Daily News:
Book thieves checked out but never returned 70,144 books from Brooklyn Public Library’s 60 cash-strapped branches in 2012, records show.
GED prep guides, nursing and other professional exam cliff notes were high on the list of frequently filched books — but so too were graphic novels, library officials said.
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“We have systems in place to incentivize people to be responsible and return their materials, but people taking advantage of the system is an unfortunate reality,” said library spokeswoman Emma Woods.
Despite the thefts, library officials have kept the shelves full — in 2012, the system bought 419,790 new print books and 18,323 new e-books.
More in the Complete NYDN Article
Over on the Melville House Blog, Nick Davies Comments:
It’s not entirely clear what having more librarians on hand would help the situation. The statistic that [Reuven] Blau [author of the NY Daily News article] quotes is for books that were checked out and not returned, as opposed to shop-lifting style theft, so these malfeasants are walking out with properly acquired books.
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