[CPProt.net] Books Disappeared From French Library

[MSN CPPnet]

Books Disappeared From French Library 

Monday June 27, 2005 10:01 PM


By SOPHIE NICHOLSON 

Associated Press Writer 

PARIS (AP) - Thousands of 19th and 20th century books disappeared from
France's national library before it moved to a new location nine years ago,
a library spokesman said Monday. 

National Library of France officials said they discovered about 30,000 books
and documents were missing during an inventory before the library moved its
main site from central to eastern Paris in 1996. 

A library spokesman, Marc Rassat, said the disappearances could date as far
back as the end of World War II. He said a criminal investigation was
underway and declined to comment further. 

The library's statement Monday confirmed a report by Le Figaro newspaper,
which published excerpts of a confidential document on security measures
ordered by the Culture Ministry in September after the discovery that Hebrew
manuscripts had been stolen. 

A former chief curator of the Hebrew manuscripts, Michel Garel, is under
investigation for alleged theft and is suspected of having passed them on to
art collectors. He denies the accusations and is to appear before a Paris
judge in the case on Tuesday. 

Some 2,000 of the books that disappeared are considered precious, the report
said, but their value was not immediately known. 

The national library - France's largest - was first set up by King Louis XI
in the 15th century and houses more than 30 million books and documents on
several sites. Every work published in France is copyrighted there. 

Tighter security measures have been in place since 2002, the library said
Monday in a statement that did not refer to the disappeared works.