The RWC Library staff has recently been finding evidence of what seems to be the theft of their books and other media materials. RWC students Nick Nguyen, Chiron Tate, and LaNique Bass, all part of the Library’s staff, are concerned about the rising amount of evidence of theft they are finding. Materials in the Library are all tagged with special security devices that set off an alarm when the material exits the room without being checked out. Parts and pieces of these security devices have been found throughout the library. Although there is a chance that these tags were not removed on purpose, the increasing rate of ripped out pages and destroyed materials found around the library says otherwise.
In the Library’s database, a book that shows up as being on the shelf may not really be on the shelf. In this situation, it’s almost impossible to know if the book was stolen or if it has just been misplaced. Obviously, this complicates things for everyone.
The student workers are frustrated and do not really know what they can do to help the situation. They have been instructed to call Security if they catch someone stealing, which is almost an impossible task due to the large size of the Library, the limited number of staff, and the constant upkeep that the Library requires.
Bass and Tate have both been working at the Library since Fall 2008 and love spending time there. Their job requires a lot: work at the front desk is just like that of any Library–checking out and returning books, answering phones, answering questions, helping people find materials, reshelving, organizing shelves, adding paper to the printers, etc.
Now, they always have to be keeping an eye out for unusual activity as well. They hope that people will learn to have respect for the Library and what it provides to students instead of taking advantage of the situation.