[MSN] Japan. Libraries in Kanagawa Prefecture are trying to deal with the problem of having large numbers of their books and other materials stolen, defaced or deliberately damaged by inconsiderate readers.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Libraries eyeing ways to bring thieves to book
The Yomiuri Shimbun

Libraries in Kanagawa Prefecture are trying to deal with the problem of
having large numbers of their books and other materials stolen, defaced or
deliberately damaged by inconsiderate readers. 

In Yokohama, 24,147 books were stolen from 18 municipal libraries in fiscal
2005, accounting for nearly 1 percent of the 3.59 million books owned by the
libraries. 

According to the Yokohama municipal government, the damage in terms of the
books' purchase prices amounted to 28.71 million yen. A similar number of
books have gone missing annually over the past several years, city officials
said. 

Recipe books, travel guides, newspapers and maps are the most frequently
stolen or damaged items. The damage includes torn out pages and notes and
comments scribbled in the book margins, says the Yokohama City Central
Library, which has more than 3 million books. 

The library has stopped putting certain newspapers and maps on display.
Instead, visitors must now ask for them at the reception counter. 

On its bulletin boards, it has posted a warning, "Scribbling [on books and
other materials] is a crime." But library officials said inconsiderate
customers have not yet turned over a new leaf. 

"We lament the bad manners and behavior of many customers." Yoshihisa
Tanaka, manager of the library, said. "We have no other option but to ask
them to act more considerately." 

He added that the library may put damaged books on display as a novel way of
shaming people who have defaced books. 

In Kawasaki, 26,094 books went missing from 12 municipal libraries last
fiscal year--1.4 percent of the books in their collection. 

The city's board of education, which administers the libraries, said it
would strengthen patrols, but it has yet to find a surefire way to prevent
theft and damage. 

The town office of Samukawamachi, however, has decided to take more decisive
action. It will put IC tags inside all of the books in a municipal library
it plans to open in November. Anyone who tries to take a book out of the
library without permission will trigger an alarm. 

The antitheft system, which will cost 16 million yen, will also save time
checking out books. 

In a related move, two prefectural libraries--one in Yokohama, another in
Kawasaki--have installed lockers where visitors are now asked to leave their
bags before entering reading rooms. The lockers have already proved
effective in reducing theft. 

The Yokohama prefectural library lost only 285 books out of 700,000 in its
collection last fiscal year. 

(Jun. 5, 2006)