Shedding Some Light on Library Crime
Kim Martineau, reporter for the Hartford Courant, gave an intriguing account of unthinkable crimes against rare maps in esteemed academic libraries. E. Forbes Smiley III stole upwards of 100 rare maps from a number of institutions before a stray x-acto blade on the floor next to his seat in the rare books room at Yale gave him away.
"I love covering crime as a reporter," said Martineau, "but you also are learning so much about American History." She noted a few responses from libraries in the wake of the devastating thefts, including libraries who are stepping up security measures in rare book rooms and increased digitization of collections. Stolen maps are still being recovered, the latest one of Yale's copy of the Cortes map of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan.
It's good to know Kim's on the case, and we'd like to thank her for making the trip to Boston to share her experiences from the field.
See Flickr for photos of the event!