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Protecting Rare Book Collections
CHAPTER 12
Protecting Rare Book Collections Contents Security vs Access and Denial vs Reporting/Acknowledgment Rare Book Collection Protection Checklist
109 110
SECURITY VS ACCESS AND DENIAL VS REPORTING/ ACKNOWLEDGMENT These issues will long be debated in institutional circles, and may stand as barriers to the successful reduction of immeasurable losses from our nation’s cultural institutions. The total amount of losses from rare book collections is largely unknown, but one conservative estimate from the early 1990s stated that annual losses in American cultural institutions exceeded “$64 million in books, journals, and rare items.”1 This estimate may cover only a portion of losses, largely unreported, from institutions enforcing policies of silence. Katharine Keys Leab, who administers the only computerized database of reports of missing institutional items in the United States, Bookline Alert/ Missing Books and Manuscripts (BAM–BAM), states that “one of the problems is that there are no numbers. That in itself is significant.”2 In researching the problem, I found an appropriate article that summed up the sometimes opposing frustrations of librarians and security administrators. Daniel Traister describes how a trusted student assistant deceived friends and colleagues over a period of time, while efficiently removing over two hundred books without a trace of suspicion.3 Traister’s article, “Seduction and Betrayal—An Insider’s View of Insider Theft of Rare Material,” appears in the Wilson Institution Bulletin, September, 1994. It provides an excellent overview of insider theft from a colleague’s prospective, and covers many aspects of the problem as expressed by each element in the institution 1 Eileen
Brady, “Scandal in the Stacks,” Focus on Security, Vol.1 Number 2, January 1994. C.Van Nort, from “Archive and Institutional Theft: The Problem That Will Not Go Away,” in Institution and Archival Security,Vol. 12(2)1994. 3 Daniel Traister is Curator, Research Services, Department of Special Collections,Van-Pelt Dietrich Institution, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 2 Sydney
109
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Safeguarding Cultural Properties
community. His summary is surprising, but understandable, “Maybe we should retreat to more rigid controls and a more suspicious approach to readers and staff in order to increase the security of our collections. But I doubt that this is the right course.” He further states his reluctance to sacrifice the traditional benefits of maintaining a system that favors open access for our country’s scholars. Such renowned and prolific thieves as Stephen Carrie Blumberg, who has been credited with the theft of over twenty thousand books, reminds us that outsiders, too, may be responsible for extensive losses for a variety of objectives. Some thieves steal for financial gain, while others may have been found to be building their own collections. In this book, I will not attempt to resolve the philosophical issues. I will attempt, in the most generic sense, to offer practical suggestions in improving the security for most facilities, and making it more difficult for those who would steal to continually deplete our nation’s heritage. The Rare Book Collection Protection Checklist provided here is a summary of these suggestions.
Rare Book Collection Protection Checklist 1. Restrict access to the rare book area all of the time! Protect rare book storage as you would a bank vault. After all, the value of books in most institutions far exceeds the total cash kept in banks at any given time. You cannot just walk into a bank vault by telling them, “I would like to look around.” Entry into the rare book section should be controlled by physical, electronic, and staffing methods. Barriers that restrict entry should be utilized. These may be in the form of turnstiles, movable barriers, locked doors, gates, or electronic gates. Everyone approaching the rare book section should be observed by a state-of-the-art video surveillance system. Each person seeking entry should be required to produce a government-produced ID, along with authorization signed by the proper authority. The reverse of this process should be utilized for persons exiting the rare books section, along with an objective package/container inspection. Every container, backpack, briefcase, purse, or package needs to be opened and inspected. The design or layout of this area should be conducive to a smooth flow of both incoming and outgoing traffic. It may consist of simple stanchion and cord barriers, or a properly constructed entry/exit gate with electronic controls. 2. Install special locks with tight key control. At any time your storage facilities are unmanned, the mechanical or electronic means to secure the facility must be capable of restricting access to all but those with
Protecting Rare Book Collections
111
special access authority. The rare book section in libraries and museums deserves special treatment. When not under direct observation, the locking system needs to be such that only persons who have been carefully screened and granted access without supervision are authorized to enter. Access may be controlled by the programing of electronic access cards, or by programing alarm system codes to only be utilized at certain times. All access-controlled doors should be alarmed with high security magnetic sensors or other acceptable means. Volumetric motion detection should cover the entire storage area. Any accessible doors, windows, or other building penetrations should be properly alarmed. All alarms for the rare book section should be on a 24 hours zone. This means that when building perimeter alarms are deactivated, these alarms remain active, unless shunted or deactivated by card access or coded entry pad. 3. Require authorization/identification for access. Staff members requiring access should be given written authority, detailing limitations. All others should be granted access only after providing photographic i dentification and written authorization. Record entry/exit data for restricted areas every time. Do not use a self-administered sign-in sheet.The best record is an automatically recording video surveillance system, backed up by a sign-in sheet that is filled in by a staff member, after scrutinizing a photo ID. A simple sign-in desk or book is unacceptable. Signing in should be done by your assigned staff member, after reviewing the identification and authorization of the person seeking admission. In reviewing sign-in books for restricted areas, I have found entries by Mickey Mouse (the most popular), Aye Gotcha, John Hancock, George Bush, Abe Lincoln, and a host of other fictitious or historical entry names. Even more frustrating is the fact that these entries may not be discovered until far too much time has passed to confront the culprits. 4. Utilize personal or video surveillance in the rare book area. Personnel assigned to rare book storage should not be “stuck behind a desk,” but patrolling stacks and research areas continually. Where possible, observe the entire area with closed circuit video surveillance.The quality of your video surveillance system has as much to do with camera placement as in the quality of the images transmitted. It is not practical to expect someone monitoring video images to actually see an incident-taking place. If alarms are tied to the video system, it is possible to alert someone to the fact that a violation of protected space is occurring. Otherwise, you must rely on a recording system that captures the action and/ or may transmit it to an off-site location. Every entry and exit needs to
112
Safeguarding Cultural Properties
be observed and recorded. In the course of an investigation, which may take place several months after an occurrence, it is helpful to be able to look at video from the time of the event. Most video systems only retain captured images for a 2-week to 30-day period. This period may be extended by several means, which should be discussed with your system vendor. 5. Inspect all materials and all containers at exit. This is one area where package inspection is a must and patrons should expect it.You must have a written policy to back up your inspection requirement.4 The inspection process for rare books is somewhat different than those conducted for general articles. Thefts from rare books often include not just the books themselves, but individual pages, or archives, maps, and other publications easily concealed. It is necessary to put inspection personnel through special training to conduct a reasonable inspection without overdoing it, while showing the proper respect for those subjected to the inspection. No one likes to go through package inspection. However, when it is conducted in a professional manner, by properly trained staff, the process becomes routine. Persons wishing to access rare book collections should be aware of the process and cooperative in its execution. If supervisory response fails to resolve the situation, they may be denied access. 6. Consider Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) Systems. These systems provide electronic scanning at all exits. Beware: There are relatively simple means of defeating these systems, and, staff members tend to let down their guard when systems are in place. These systems attach a tag or microdot to protected collections. A scanner placed in exit lanes should detect the presence of an article, which should not be removed or moved past a designated point. Many methods have been devised for defeating these transmitters and other problems exist, such as false activations from, created by the presence of, some electronics or metallic objects. The scanners do work, on most occasions, and are better than doing nothing. However, like the article alarms at discount stores, they are often ignored by staff and therefore lose their value. It all comes down to staff training and a thorough understanding on how these systems are supposed to work. 7. Enforce package inspections at all exits. Employees, volunteers, and visitors should be treated alike. If you are going to inspect packages, assure that personnel assigned do not put their hands inside handbags, backpacks, or other containers. Use plastic “paddles” to move articles aside. If 4 See
Package Inspection policy in Chapter 9: Theft Prevention.
Protecting Rare Book Collections
113
you have made the package inspection decision for all entry/exit locations, then you need to make sure you have a definitive policy, publish the results, advise all staff, and conduct the inspections with consistency. 8. Conduct inventories regularly. Document all losses or suspected losses. Limitations in manpower and budget may not allow you to practise or initiate all of the above. You may not see the need because of the “it is never happened before” attitude.The cost of installing high security locks to restricted access areas is minimal.The time necessary to send a staff member to lock and unlock those areas and checking identification is also minimal.
Protecting Rare Book Collections Contents Security vs Access and Denial vs Reporting/Acknowledgment Rare Book Collection Protection Checklist
109 110
SECURITY VS ACCESS AND DENIAL VS REPORTING/ ACKNOWLEDGMENT These issues will long be debated in institutional circles, and may stand as barriers to the successful reduction of immeasurable losses from our nation’s cultural institutions. The total amount of losses from rare book collections is largely unknown, but one conservative estimate from the early 1990s stated that annual losses in American cultural institutions exceeded “$64 million in books, journals, and rare items.”1 This estimate may cover only a portion of losses, largely unreported, from institutions enforcing policies of silence. Katharine Keys Leab, who administers the only computerized database of reports of missing institutional items in the United States, Bookline Alert/ Missing Books and Manuscripts (BAM–BAM), states that “one of the problems is that there are no numbers. That in itself is significant.”2 In researching the problem, I found an appropriate article that summed up the sometimes opposing frustrations of librarians and security administrators. Daniel Traister describes how a trusted student assistant deceived friends and colleagues over a period of time, while efficiently removing over two hundred books without a trace of suspicion.3 Traister’s article, “Seduction and Betrayal—An Insider’s View of Insider Theft of Rare Material,” appears in the Wilson Institution Bulletin, September, 1994. It provides an excellent overview of insider theft from a colleague’s prospective, and covers many aspects of the problem as expressed by each element in the institution 1 Eileen
Brady, “Scandal in the Stacks,” Focus on Security, Vol.1 Number 2, January 1994. C.Van Nort, from “Archive and Institutional Theft: The Problem That Will Not Go Away,” in Institution and Archival Security,Vol. 12(2)1994. 3 Daniel Traister is Curator, Research Services, Department of Special Collections,Van-Pelt Dietrich Institution, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 2 Sydney
109
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Safeguarding Cultural Properties
community. His summary is surprising, but understandable, “Maybe we should retreat to more rigid controls and a more suspicious approach to readers and staff in order to increase the security of our collections. But I doubt that this is the right course.” He further states his reluctance to sacrifice the traditional benefits of maintaining a system that favors open access for our country’s scholars. Such renowned and prolific thieves as Stephen Carrie Blumberg, who has been credited with the theft of over twenty thousand books, reminds us that outsiders, too, may be responsible for extensive losses for a variety of objectives. Some thieves steal for financial gain, while others may have been found to be building their own collections. In this book, I will not attempt to resolve the philosophical issues. I will attempt, in the most generic sense, to offer practical suggestions in improving the security for most facilities, and making it more difficult for those who would steal to continually deplete our nation’s heritage. The Rare Book Collection Protection Checklist provided here is a summary of these suggestions.
Rare Book Collection Protection Checklist 1. Restrict access to the rare book area all of the time! Protect rare book storage as you would a bank vault. After all, the value of books in most institutions far exceeds the total cash kept in banks at any given time. You cannot just walk into a bank vault by telling them, “I would like to look around.” Entry into the rare book section should be controlled by physical, electronic, and staffing methods. Barriers that restrict entry should be utilized. These may be in the form of turnstiles, movable barriers, locked doors, gates, or electronic gates. Everyone approaching the rare book section should be observed by a state-of-the-art video surveillance system. Each person seeking entry should be required to produce a government-produced ID, along with authorization signed by the proper authority. The reverse of this process should be utilized for persons exiting the rare books section, along with an objective package/container inspection. Every container, backpack, briefcase, purse, or package needs to be opened and inspected. The design or layout of this area should be conducive to a smooth flow of both incoming and outgoing traffic. It may consist of simple stanchion and cord barriers, or a properly constructed entry/exit gate with electronic controls. 2. Install special locks with tight key control. At any time your storage facilities are unmanned, the mechanical or electronic means to secure the facility must be capable of restricting access to all but those with
Protecting Rare Book Collections
111
special access authority. The rare book section in libraries and museums deserves special treatment. When not under direct observation, the locking system needs to be such that only persons who have been carefully screened and granted access without supervision are authorized to enter. Access may be controlled by the programing of electronic access cards, or by programing alarm system codes to only be utilized at certain times. All access-controlled doors should be alarmed with high security magnetic sensors or other acceptable means. Volumetric motion detection should cover the entire storage area. Any accessible doors, windows, or other building penetrations should be properly alarmed. All alarms for the rare book section should be on a 24 hours zone. This means that when building perimeter alarms are deactivated, these alarms remain active, unless shunted or deactivated by card access or coded entry pad. 3. Require authorization/identification for access. Staff members requiring access should be given written authority, detailing limitations. All others should be granted access only after providing photographic i dentification and written authorization. Record entry/exit data for restricted areas every time. Do not use a self-administered sign-in sheet.The best record is an automatically recording video surveillance system, backed up by a sign-in sheet that is filled in by a staff member, after scrutinizing a photo ID. A simple sign-in desk or book is unacceptable. Signing in should be done by your assigned staff member, after reviewing the identification and authorization of the person seeking admission. In reviewing sign-in books for restricted areas, I have found entries by Mickey Mouse (the most popular), Aye Gotcha, John Hancock, George Bush, Abe Lincoln, and a host of other fictitious or historical entry names. Even more frustrating is the fact that these entries may not be discovered until far too much time has passed to confront the culprits. 4. Utilize personal or video surveillance in the rare book area. Personnel assigned to rare book storage should not be “stuck behind a desk,” but patrolling stacks and research areas continually. Where possible, observe the entire area with closed circuit video surveillance.The quality of your video surveillance system has as much to do with camera placement as in the quality of the images transmitted. It is not practical to expect someone monitoring video images to actually see an incident-taking place. If alarms are tied to the video system, it is possible to alert someone to the fact that a violation of protected space is occurring. Otherwise, you must rely on a recording system that captures the action and/ or may transmit it to an off-site location. Every entry and exit needs to
112
Safeguarding Cultural Properties
be observed and recorded. In the course of an investigation, which may take place several months after an occurrence, it is helpful to be able to look at video from the time of the event. Most video systems only retain captured images for a 2-week to 30-day period. This period may be extended by several means, which should be discussed with your system vendor. 5. Inspect all materials and all containers at exit. This is one area where package inspection is a must and patrons should expect it.You must have a written policy to back up your inspection requirement.4 The inspection process for rare books is somewhat different than those conducted for general articles. Thefts from rare books often include not just the books themselves, but individual pages, or archives, maps, and other publications easily concealed. It is necessary to put inspection personnel through special training to conduct a reasonable inspection without overdoing it, while showing the proper respect for those subjected to the inspection. No one likes to go through package inspection. However, when it is conducted in a professional manner, by properly trained staff, the process becomes routine. Persons wishing to access rare book collections should be aware of the process and cooperative in its execution. If supervisory response fails to resolve the situation, they may be denied access. 6. Consider Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) Systems. These systems provide electronic scanning at all exits. Beware: There are relatively simple means of defeating these systems, and, staff members tend to let down their guard when systems are in place. These systems attach a tag or microdot to protected collections. A scanner placed in exit lanes should detect the presence of an article, which should not be removed or moved past a designated point. Many methods have been devised for defeating these transmitters and other problems exist, such as false activations from, created by the presence of, some electronics or metallic objects. The scanners do work, on most occasions, and are better than doing nothing. However, like the article alarms at discount stores, they are often ignored by staff and therefore lose their value. It all comes down to staff training and a thorough understanding on how these systems are supposed to work. 7. Enforce package inspections at all exits. Employees, volunteers, and visitors should be treated alike. If you are going to inspect packages, assure that personnel assigned do not put their hands inside handbags, backpacks, or other containers. Use plastic “paddles” to move articles aside. If 4 See
Package Inspection policy in Chapter 9: Theft Prevention.
Protecting Rare Book Collections
113
you have made the package inspection decision for all entry/exit locations, then you need to make sure you have a definitive policy, publish the results, advise all staff, and conduct the inspections with consistency. 8. Conduct inventories regularly. Document all losses or suspected losses. Limitations in manpower and budget may not allow you to practise or initiate all of the above. You may not see the need because of the “it is never happened before” attitude.The cost of installing high security locks to restricted access areas is minimal.The time necessary to send a staff member to lock and unlock those areas and checking identification is also minimal.