Original question:
> From: "Janet L. Steins" <steins_at_fas.harvard.edu>
>
> I've just spent a good part of the last two workdays trying to return
> a book seemingly stolen from a major university library and then sold
> to my library by a book dealer working within the Advanced Book
> Exchange (ABE) system.
>
> It turns out after all my efforts that the book was actually withdrawn
> from the original library's collection, but they made no attempt to cancel
> the ownership marks or even stamp it "Withdrawn" before discarding it.
> The book dealer told me he sees this kind of thing all the time, but in my
> almost 25 years in research libraries I had never come across it. The
> dealer even suggested that it might be an East Coast / West Coast problem,
> with west coast libraries being more "laid back" about this sort of thing!
>
> I wonder how others feel about this. I have returned numerous stolen books
> to their rightful owners over the years, and expect other libraries to do
> the same if they come across books belonging to my library. But it's clear
> to me that attempting these reciprocal good deeds become a colossal waste of
> our time if libraries don't bother to mark their deaccessional material
> accordingly.
>
> Should I bother? Should any of us bother?
>
>
> Janet L. Steins
> Associate Librarian for Technical Services and Collections
> Tozzer Library
> Harvard University
======
Responses:
#1
From: Ellen Chapman <ellen_at_hawaii.edu>
Yes, please bother. We receive our "lost" books from all over the world
(literally) and are grateful. We do stamp WITHDRAWN on our withdrawn
books to make the status clear to all (and Hawaii is about as laid back as
it gets!) Aloha.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Ellen L. Chapman
Archivist for Congressional Papers voice: (808) 944-7656
University of Hawaii at Manoa Library fax: (808) 956-5968
2550 The Mall email: ellen_at_hawaii.edu
Honolulu, HI 96822 USA
=====
#2
From: Mary Margaret Benson <mbenson_at_linfield.edu>
I've worked in west coast libraries since 1972, and those institutions
have always stamped materials as withdrawn or discared. I don't think
you're wasting any time, Janet!
Mary Margaret Benson
mbenson_at_linfield.edu
=====
#3
From: Douglas Deichmann <dtd01_at_bellsouth.net>
I think it is worth the effort in trying to return the books to their
rightful owners. Some years ago I was at a local book fair in New Orleans and
found some books which belonged to the Jefferson Parish Library System. As an
employee of Jefferson Parish I spotted them right away. God knows how the
books got there since the books had not been weeded from our collection and were
still listed in our card catalog . I asked the ladies in charge if I could have
them to bring back to the library and they gave them to me.
Douglas Deichmann
=====
#4
From: "McCord, S. Joe" <mccord_at_cl.uh.edu>
I can't imagine a library withdrawing a book without marking it
appropriately.
S. Joe McCord, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Neumann Library
University of Houston Clear lake
=====
END
Received on Thu Feb 22 2001 - 07:51:38 EST