In the upcoming weeks students will be preparing for final
exams and most of their time will be occupied in or around the Douglas and
Judith Krupp library. The library has coincidentally noticed that many books
from shelves are missing without having been taken out. A librarian intern who
requested not to be named says that the office wants to track down these books
(and policy violators) as aggressively as possible. The same contact confided
that a former Navy Seal has been contacted as an investigatory search specialist
focused on recovering the items and/or enforcing punishments on policy
violators.
Some students are stunned by this move as they feel it is
too aggressive. “They’re just books, I mean, what do they cost, $5?” says
senior Nicole Barrow. The total cost of the missing books in terms of labor,
property, and investigation efforts are much higher. A third party organization
estimates that the cost of the delinquent book yields a cost ranging between
29-32% of the library’s budget.
In the Douglass and Judith Library Annual Report,
researchers indicated that the most common outstanding book subjects included Aviation and Horticulture among the most stolen in 2011.
Other students are more apathetic to the entire ordeal.
Jason Gregory thinks the move is stupid, stating “who takes books out from the
library? I always thought those were decorations. Personally I only use the
library because it’s easier to concentrate there as opposed to my frat-house.”
With final exams coming up, be warned”¦if you plan on taking
a book out at the library, there may be a formally trained shooter squad coming
after you.
