-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Stolen magazines
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 12:30:29 -0400
From: Dani Lichtenberg <p005386b@pb.seflin.org>

Here's an age old problem that has recently reared its ugly head.  We
are
experiencing a rash of stolen magazines and journals.  Our collection is
housed on open shelving, with the magazines placed in plastic binders.
We just keep the current issues on this shelving, and the older volumes
behind the service desk.  Just about the time school started back in, we
were finding that someone was taking magazines out of the binders and
stealing them.  Usually they just put the empty binders back on the
shelves.  There was a flurry of this activity, and then just one or two
per week.  We have tried to keep ever more vigilant but it is difficult
to keep an eye on everything at every moment.  We posted a large sign,
explaining that this kind of theft was a crime.  This slowed things down
a bit more.  But recently the thefts are on the rise again.  Four stolen
on Saturday.  I would guess that we have had twenty or more issues
stolen
since the beginning of September.

What do other libraries do about this?  Particularly public libraries.
We don't security strip every issue, and in fact we conducted
experiments
testing the success of the security strips and found that they do not
always trigger the alarm, anyway.  Depends on if you have the magazine
deep inside a backpack, held low, held high, etc.  Beyond posting a
"plainclothes" employee in the reading area to watch everyone's every
move, I am at a loss on how to combat this problem.  Does anyone have
any
helpful tips?

Dani Lichtenberg
Serials Supervisor
Palm Beach County Library System
p005386b@pb.seflin.org