UMaine to "Stamp out book theft"
Brian Sylvester
Issue date: 4/30/07 Section: News
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These are the words of Taryn Buckley, fourth-year communication science disorder major at the University of Maine and the driving force behind UMaine's "Stamp Out Book Theft" program. For the past 10 days, Buckley has stationed herself in Fogler Library, seeking out unattended books, notebooks and laptops and leaving small index cards with pictures of a rubber duck and the inscription "don't be a sitting duck" on top of them.
The reminders, meant to be a deterrent to students leaving themselves open to book theft, is the newest part of the "Stamp Out Book Theft" program, sponsored by the University Bookstore and UMaine Public Safety.
The sitting duck program couldn't come at a better time, with buyback at the University Bookstore just around the corner and textbook theft on the rise at UMaine. This academic year saw 20 reported incidents of textbook theft from Stewart Commons alone, described by Public Safety Chief Noel March as "the worst I've seen it in five years."
Four students were charged specifically with textbook theft, accounting for 11 of the thefts from the fall '06 semester. One student, Stephen Boutin, was charged with four counts of theft for the unauthorized taking of more than $1000 worth of textbooks from other students and the University Bookstore. Boutin will be in Superior Court on May 29.
"Those individuals who would dare to steal from their fellow students learned that they had easy pickings outside the dining commons at Stewart Commons," March said.
Public Safety, Auxiliary Services and the University Bookstore have all come together to try to prevent book theft from being an issue during this buyback period, through monitoring of the area outside Stewart Commons and the "Stamp Out Book Theft" program. In addition, students selling textbooks at buyback will be required to present a photo ID, and other security measures have been taken by the bookstore.
"This is the time for students to be paying particularly close attention to their laptops, their textbooks and their backpacks," March said. The week before finals, when buyback re-opens at the Bookstore, saw nine of the 20 thefts from Stewart Commons during the fall semester. "There are two seasons, one at the end of each semester, for buyback, when we become more vulnerable as a community to those that would steal books."
The "Stamp Out Book Theft" program gives students the option to have their textbooks stamped with a code, specific to them, made from invisible ink. Buckley has been very active on campus promoting the use of the stamps, which make it much easier to track stolen books.
"It's a free program where I take an invisible ink stamp and stamp it into the front cover of the book with a code that is specific to you," Buckley said. When a book is stolen, the bookstore is alerted and a 'flag' is put next to the book title, and each book of that title sold during buy-back is scanned with a black light. Books that aren't flagged aren't scanned, making it necessary to keep track of books and report theft immediately.
"Everything is dependent on how quickly you report it," Buckley said. "You have to report it as soon as it happens." If a student waits too long after a theft has occurred to report it, the book could be sold back to the bookstore before they can flag the title.
Buckley will be in Fogler Library in the week leading up to finals, stamping books and placing the 'sitting duck' reminders on the belongings of students who have left them unattended. "Don't walk away from your stuff, even if you think you're just going to the bathroom and are going to be back in a few minutes," Buckley cautioned. "Somebody could be waiting."
Students can also have their textbooks stamped at the front counter of the University Bookstore, free of charge.
"It doesn't do anything to their book except it could save them a lot of frustration, and it could get them the money instead of some thief," Buckley said.
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