Many Forms of Vandalism in the Library

Vandalism in libraries can take many forms. Lincoln has enumerated six types of vandalism in libraries, including: intentional damage to materials, vandalism outside the building, vandalism inside the building, vandalism to vehicles, vandalism to equipment, and arson. For example, one public library in Georgia spent $5,000 in one month repairing windows that were repeatedly broken by vandals (G.M.E.). Prevention strategies for all types of vandalism will be presented in the last section of this paper. The remainder of this section will explore the insidious problem of materials mutilation.
Many authors, such as Robert Schumm do not believe that complete elimination of materials mutilation is possible. However, he suggests that understanding the types of materials that are most frequently mutilated is the first step in reducing the problem. For example, studies have shown that materials about controversial subjects and materials in special formats are more frequent targets than other materials (Curry, Flodin and Matheson). The survey of libraries subscribing to Playboy that found two-thirds of the libraries experienced problems with that magazine alone (Cornog and Perper) supports the contention that controversial materials are a target for vandalism. The literature abounds with examples such as the vandalism of twelve gay-positive books in the Central Michigan University library ("Gay"). The books were discovered with ripped out pages and tossed into toilets. Although not vandalism of sex materials per se, six Boston public libraries found copies of an illustrated essay supporting pedophilia as an acceptable practice pasted into their books (R.O.). Cornog and Perper warn librarians about treating the vandalism of sex materials differently than the vandalism of other materials. They suggest that it is inappropriate to choose not to carry sex materials where such a decision would not be considered for other types of materials. They recommend employing the same strategies to prevent vandalism as librarians use for other materials, and not to opt for simply restricting or not replacing the materials.