Thieves

[depechemodefan]

I have 2 stories; the first one I thought I mentioned but I can't find the thread.

I was trying to go to the bathroom, and had a rush of people come in. When I thought I had a break, a woman comes up. she wanted a copy of some legal form. I asked her if she knew how to use the computer and she doesn't.

So I take her to the books with the forms, since I wasn't going to spend time finding the form in our database. She doesn't speak English, so I had to look for her. She asks if I can just find it online, and I tell her since she doesn't know how to use the computer she will have to make a copy from the book.

I figured she just wanted me to find it online and make a copy for her for free. I also told her to leave the book on a cart by my desk.

So I find the form in a book, and tell her to make a copy at the machine. I take her to the machine and there is someone using it, so I tell her to wait. I got to the bathroom, and when I came out, I started to look for her since I didn't trust that she would not steal the book. I didn't find her. I didn't see the book on the cart, either. I decide to look throughout the library (3 public floors) and I didn't see her. Some 15 minutes latter, I see the book on the cart, and find that she took out the pages. Now the legal form book is no good, and has to be reordered and discarded.

Second story happend this past Sat.
Security heard the alarm at the door go off and she asked the cop (we hire a cop for the bad things that security can't touch) to go after the guy since security can't leave the building. Cop goes after dude, and dude comes back in, doesn't set the alarm off, and leaves, going the opposite direction. Cop comes back in with a book that has the cover torn off. Seems the dude threw it out of his bag behind a pillar, and the cop found it after the guy left.

So the thief thought if he took off the cover, that gets rid of the security strip, but there are more strips in a book, either on a page or on the spine. Luckily the book was from 2007 and didn't seem in use much.

[vloglady]

With regards to the first SC, couldn't you just get an online copy of the form and put it in the book? that's what we would do at my library. We were always losing the tax forms from that big book.

[Kristev]

Horrible people.

[Slave to the Phone]

When I worked at the library, I was outraged on a daily basis. People would do such terrible things to books. Now that I'm just a user, I still get outraged. I listen to books on CD, and the discs are always messed up.

[wolfie]

She asks if I can just find it online, and I tell her since she doesn't know how to use the computer she will have to make a copy from the book.

I figured she just wanted me to find it online and make a copy for her for free. I also told her to leave the book on a cart by my desk.

So I find the form in a book, and tell her to make a copy at the machine. I take her to the machine and there is someone using it, so I tell her to wait. I got to the bathroom, and when I came out, I started to look for her since I didn't trust that she would not steal the book. I didn't find her. I didn't see the book on the cart, either. I decide to look throughout the library (3 public floors) and I didn't see her. Some 15 minutes latter, I see the book on the cart, and find that she took out the pages. Now the legal form book is no good, and has to be reordered and discarded.

One suggestion (would need to test it on your copiers to see if it works as advertised) would be to get a "dropout blue" pen, and on the new forms book, write on each page "Original is property of Library X - if you can read this message, the form is stolen property". When copied on a normal (monochrome) copier, "dropout blue" does as its name implies, and doesn't show up on the copy. That's where the old term "blue pencilling" (from an editor marking up stuff to be sent for photo-lithography) came from.

[KatherineB]

The other option is to write the same thing in yellow highlighter which also doesn't show up on photocopies.

[Librarian]

The other option is to write the same thing in yellow highlighter which also doesn't show up on photocopies.

At our library our copier DOES show yellow highlighter/marker, albeit somewhat lighter and sometimes hard to read/see it is there - it does show.

[PepperElf]

One suggestion (would need to test it on your copiers to see if it works as advertised) would be to get a "dropout blue" pen, and on the new forms book, write on each page "Original is property of Library X - if you can read this message, the form is stolen property". When copied on a normal (monochrome) copier, "dropout blue" does as its name implies, and doesn't show up on the copy. That's where the old term "blue pencilling" (from an editor marking up stuff to be sent for photo-lithography) came from.

doesn't work if they rip the pages right out though.


that sucks that the woman had to go and do that too.

[depechemodefan]

With regards to the first SC, couldn't you just get an online copy of the form and put it in the book?

I really don't know why we just won't copy and put new copy in book, though I have problems taping pages of magazines back, because it's impossible to keep it from looking tacky-maybe the higher-ups don't want the books to have too much things taped inside.

I'll see about drop-out blue or the yellow hi-lighters. That sounds like fun

I also noticed 5 minute after posting that I misspelled "thieves," though I never could change the title of my threads before, so didn't try. The stupid is rubbing off on me from our patrons.

[RealUnimportant]

doesn't work if they rip the pages right out though.

This is the point - you write it on the original pages so if they're "borrowed" out of the book, they can be identified.

[wolfie]

doesn't work if they rip the pages right out though.

This is the point - you write it on the original pages so if they're "borrowed" out of the book, they can be identified.

Exactly. Presumably these forms (once filled out) are sent to some government agency, or are used in some legal process (e.g. purchase/sale of a house). If someone photocopies the book in order to get a blank form to use, it comes out as a normal form. If someone steals the page out of the book, someone in authority will see the message on their filled-in form saying that it's stolen property (that's why the "If you can read this message" bit). Things are likely to go badly for the thief.

[Sapphire Silk]

Not only does yellow highlighter show up, sometimes it obliterates what's under it. It really depends on the pen and the copier.

I worked in a library when I was in high school. I was in charge of periodicals. Students would constantly rip out pages from the magazines, or worse from the encyclopedias when working on papers (this was pre-Internet days).

OTOH, it made a great way for me to earn brownie points with the vice principal. There was a corridor between the library and the main office. When I checked in his favorite magazines, I'd slip down that hallway to his office and put them on his desk. He always got first crack at his favorites, and returned them in a couple of days.

I got away with murder

[PepperElf]

This is the point - you write it on the original pages so if they're "borrowed" out of the book, they can be identified.

ah... i get it now. writing on the pages in pale marker so you can't use the original. but the copies look normal.


for some odd reason i was thinking of some special kind of marker that only showed up if you make copies.

oops