Since September 1999, a vandal has destroyed 60 art and music books worth $3,000 at the Forbes Library in Northampton, Massachusetts.
About 20% of the damaged books had all their pages cut out before being returned to the shelf, Director Blaise Bisaillon told American Libraries; the rest were missing a page or two here and there. Bisaillon said they believe the vandalism was done out of anger, not for monetary or commercial reasons. “We don’t think it’s theft for profit,” he said.
Library security has been increased, Bisaillon said, and, as part of an ongoing building renovation, the art library’s stacks will be rotated this fall to improve visual contact from the public service desk. For now, the vandalism appears to have stopped, but the person responsible has not been caught.
At Smith College in Northampton, Library Director Christopher Loring said between 10 and 15 of their art books had been similarly damaged in the same time period.
Poste July 3, 2000.