ALA | American Libraries - Career Shift: Autograph Hound to Book Vandal

Site Navigation

Left Sidebar Items

Online Features

Follow American Libraries news stories, videos, and blog posts on Twitter.

NEW! Interview: Mohammad Abbas talks about his role as head of the new Library Department of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, the nations parliament in Baghdad.
Exclusive interview with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Interview with Judith Krug, 1995.
Interview: Andrew Pace Explains Why OCLC’s “Quick Start” Is a Sea Change . An April 24 conversation with American Libraries Editor in Chief Leonard Kniffel on OCLC's foray into web-scale management.
Read This Now: ALA’s Award-winners Represent the Best for Library Collections.The chairs of many of ALA's book and media award committees discuss their selections. Includes a complete review of RUSA's Outstanding Reference Sources.
Stimulate Your Library: How libraries can benefit from the 2009 stimulus bill.
Login is no longer required to view the current issue or archives online. First-time viewers need to install the ebrary reader. (Firefox 3 users: Note this workaround needed.)
AL Inside Scoop, American Libraries’ blog.
American Libraries: The First 100 Years, a timeline, 1907–2007
Top Ten Reasons to be a Librarian
10 Reasons Why the Internet Is No Substitute for a Library
12 Ways Libraries Are Good for the Country

Career Shift: Autograph Hound to Book Vandal

A dapper 57-year-old resident of Concord, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty October 13 to criminal mischief for methodically removing the front and back pages of more than 300 Concord Library books. He paid a $1,200 fine to the library, the Concord Monitor reported.

Giving no reason for the rampage, William Linehan said, "I don't really know. It was just a stupid thing. I think it was the risk which was a kick." He said he had never done anything similar.

Pointing out that Linehan has been a professional dealer of historic autographs for 15 years, prosecutors theorized he mutilated the books because he needed paper from a particular era to legitimize forged signatures. The Universal Autograph Collectors Club expelled Linehan last year following a complaint from another member that Linehan had sold him a phony autograph of rock star Jim Morrison.

Posted October 19, 1998.

American Libraries

Site Navigation

Left Sidebar Items

Online Features

Career Shift: Autograph Hound to Book Vandal

Right Sidebar