Pilfered texts worth more than 400 mil. yen, local govts say in survey
Written by Writer on Monday, November 10th, 2008
284,000 library books stolen / Pilfered texts worth more than 400 mil. yen, local govts say in survey
The Yomiuri Shimbun
About 284,000 books worth more than 400 million yen went missing from public libraries in Tokyo and other major cities across the country in fiscal 2007, a Yomiuri Shimbun survey has found.
Most of the books are believed to have been stolen, the survey said.
In many cases, thieves left the dust jackets of the books they took on shelves in place of the books, library officials said in the survey.
Though some libraries installed alarm-equipped security gates, many found it difficult to conduct security measures due to financial difficulties.
The survey asked 74 governments how many library books went missing from public libraries in fiscal 2007 and the cost of the missing books. Prefectural capitals, government-designated major cities, the Tokyo metropolitan government and 23 Tokyo wards were surveyed.
Of the local governments surveyed, 69 responded to a question concerning the number of missing books.
According to the survey, 284,421 books went missing from libraries run by local governments.
Four Tokyo wards and the cities of Yokohama, Kawasaki and Nagoya each said they lost more than 10,000 books in fiscal 2007, indicating libraries in large municipalities have incurred heavy financial damage.
In 22 wards in Tokyo that responded to a question asking how many books had gone missing, 141,221 books had been removed, accounting for nearly half the number of missing books.
Asked to calculate damages incurred, the Tokyo metropolitan government and 63 other local governments said the missing books were worth a total of 410.71 million yen.
Additionally, books worth a total of 10 million yen or more went missing in 12 cities and wards, according to the survey. In these cases, culprits often left the books’ dust jackets on the shelves after taking the texts.
In one Tokyo library, this type of book theft became evident about three years ago. Sometimes, two or three books were taken away each month in this manner. Travel guidebooks, photograph books, and other books with pictures were stolen most.
Because stolen books’ dust jackets were left on shelves, library workers sometimes failed to notice the books were missing until annual inspections were conducted.
“We failed to take proper preventive measures,” a librarian at one of the libraries said.
In some cases, missing books were later found to have been thrown away.
In one case in the Kanto region, two cardboard boxes containing about 80 books belonging to a library were left in front of a store near the library.
In other cases, stolen library books were later found in a garbage can in front of a convenience store in the Tohoku region and in a garbage can at a local train station in Shikoku.
In June last year, several fire-damaged library books were found in a park in Kyushu.
At a Kyushu library, about 400 books previously thought stolen were returned to the library in its night return box at the end of last year. About 100 of the books were covered with dust and seriously damaged, the library said in the survey.
In response to these types of incidents, some libraries stepped up patrols or set up security gates.
However, many local governments are having difficulty taking measures to prevent people from stealing books due to financial and personnel shortages, the survey found.
(Nov. 10, 2008)
