Stolen items from Edmonton Public Library Data obtained by Global News shows that thousands of items have gone missing over the last few years from the library. Julia Wong breaks down the numbers.
More than 3,000 items have gone missing from the Edmonton Public Library (EPL) system from 2014 to 2017, according to data obtained by Global News.
A list of the missing items, which EPL marks as “stolen,” shows that the majority of items lost by the library are movies.
“It’s not surprising,” said Sharon Day, director of EPL branch services and collections.
“Blu-rays, DVDs, music, video games are our highest turnover collections. That means it got the most use per item, goes out the most times.”
The data analyzed by Global News shows the items missing include 2,166 movies, 574 CDs, 494 books or magazines and 34 video games or pedometers.
Day said video games and movies are some of the most expensive materials that the library purchases and said it is “disappointing” when they go missing.
However, she is satisfied with the bigger picture — the entire library collection is more than 1.1 million items, meaning the “stolen” items make up a small fraction of that.
“The amount that we’re at – we’re comfortable with. We know it’s a reasonable level and it’s something to be expected in all libraries, really,” Day said.
“It’s really a part of doing our business. We know, just like any retail establishment, that there’s going to be some items that are going to go missing when you are dealing with a collection that’s so large,” she said.
Tonia Hunyh/Global News
EPL user Margaret McKenzie said in that past, she ran into situations where she could not find an item that needed to be returned.
“It’s when you’re busy, you’re working, sometimes you can’t find the books or you can’t keep track of all the books all members of the family have at the library. Sometimes they do get missed,” she said.
McKenzie said incentives like fines or the potential for her card to be locked encouraged her to keep better track of her books.
“Sometimes you do find them, sometimes you don’t,” she said.
“It’s very frustrating, very frustrating. But as the mom who is the one who keeps the finger on these things, it just gives you a little bit of a push to say, ‘Look, I’ve got to keep a closer eye on these things.’”
Now that her children have moved out of the house, McKenzie said it is easier for her to keep track of her library items.
The library takes some measures to prevent items from being taken, including security tags on items, security gates at entrances and a tracking system that alerts EPL when an item is not returned. The user is contacted and reminded about the missing item; if it is not returned, the user is then charged for the replacement.
“Not all material that we charge customers for is paid for. Sometimes material comes back. Some of it is the customer just never does come back so we do end up absorbing the cost in those cases,” Day said.
She said the library collection is “fluid” and inventory is done every year to “weed” the items and ensure they are popular and relevant. Missing items are held to the same standard – Day said that if a missing item is no longer relevant or popular, it is not replaced.
So far in 2017, 1,004 items have been marked as “stolen” with a total cost of $27,530 to the library system. The number of items stolen and cost of those items have remained relatively stable over the last three years.
The cost to replace the entire EPL collection is more than $50 million. Day said the bigger issue, for her, is not the cost to replace the missing items but rather the impact the missing items have on library users.
“The bigger cost, I guess if you can call it that – sometimes the item is very popular and it goes missing. That means the next customer who had a hold on it in line has to wait longer because they won’t see it as fast as we would have liked for them,” she said.
Interesting facts:
The most popular item taken from EPL is the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Four of those DVDs have been marked as “stolen.”
The second-most popular item is the movie I am Number Four. Three of the DVDs have been marked as “stolen.”
Six pedometers have gone missing from EPL. Each unit costs $20.
The most expensiv item taken from EPL is a non-fiction book called Encyclopedia of corrosion technology. It cost $467.30.
The most popular type of book to go missing is non-fiction (95) with teen graphic novels a close second (60).
The Born to Read kit not only includes a book, but also a library card which is guaranteed free from late fines for two years
by: Kenneth Armstrong
Kevin Page and Meaghan Forestell-Page read Goodnight Moon with their
daughter Mae and two-month-old Sam. Every newborn in Guelph will receive
the book as part of the Born to Read program. Kenneth
Armstrong/GuelphToday
A book for every baby — Meaghan Forestell-Page was on
maternity leave with her first child when she first heard about a
program which aims to increase childhood literacy by partnering
libraries with hospital maternity wards.
At the time a new mother, Meaghan was excanging baby stories with friends from Dallas, Texas.
“We were having babies around the same time and they told me about
how they got this bag from the library — a literacy kit, essentially —
and how nice it was while they were in the hospital to get this,” said
Meaghan.
The program model features a partnership between libraries and hospitals to provide every newborn baby with a book.
As a librarian herself, Meaghan said she believes literacy begins at birth and immediately took to the idea.
“To start off right from the hospital with a book for free — that you
can start reading — I think that’s very important,” she said.
Meaghan began working on the project as soon as she got back from maternity leave.
She was not working during last week’s launch of the program, dubbed Born to Read. Two
months ago she and her husband Kevin Page — who is also a librarian —
welcomed their second child into the world and she was once again on
maternity leave.
Steven Kraft, CEO of the Guelph Public Library, says newborns are the readers of the future.
“We have always been concerned with childhood programming, childhood
literacy, reading and capturing readers at as young an age as possible
to build the enthusiasm,” said Kraft.
The Born to Read kit not only includes a book, but also a
library card which is guaranteed free from late fines for two years and a
health recipe book.
“It’s stressful enough being a new parent, so let’s make it as easy
as possible (for them). We’re not a revenue-generating institution. We
rely on fines to lower our operating costs, but this isn’t going to make
or break us. It’s a thing we can do for the community,” said Kraft.
The card is good to use at any of the six branches of the library, as well as the Bookmobile.
The program was made possible by Friends of the Guelph Public Library, a charity which supports the goals of the library.
A $10,000 donation by the charity supported purchasing copies of Goodnight Moon — a board book included in every kit — as well as a book bag.
The program will run one full year, with possibility of it continuing further.
“Hopefully this is something we can do on an ongoing basis,” said Kraft.
Meaghan said she contacted the hospital in December with a proposal for launching the program.
“Right away they were very receptive, warm and welcoming to this program,” she said.
Although disappointed that she wasn’t working when the program was launched, Meaghan said she is glad it has launched.
One question Kraft said he has been asked is whether the program is available to newborns who were birthed at home.
“Just let us know and we will get you the package of material,” he said.
Children lined up on July 12 for free lunches outside the Marysville Public Library
in Marysville, Ohio. Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
ELMWOOD
PLACE, Ohio — Before opening their doors at noon, the librarians squeeze tables
and chairs between the book stacks to prepare for the onslaught of hungry
children. Usually, two or three dozen show up, but occasionally, up to 70 do.
During
the summer, they come to this tiny branch in Elmwood Place, a village in
greater Cincinnati, for “Captain Underpants,” air-conditioning and, lately, a
hot meal.
One
recent Thursday, most of the pint-size patrons signed up for free lunch even
before reserving a computer. Older kids, lanky from growth spurts, first
beelined for the internet, then wrote their names down to get the day’s meal —
macaroni with ground beef — after a gentle reminder from Kevin Collett, a
library services assistant.
A woman
from a nearby church — the program sponsor — delivered lunch. Librarians
assembled each share. Then LeeAnn McNabb, the branch manager, summoned
children, one by one, to get cantaloupe slices, an apple, a roll, milk and the
warm entree.
“We come
Monday through Friday, unless there’s an unforeseeable catastrophe,” said
Lorrie Spraggins, 58, who lives nearby with her daughter and grandchildren.
“With eight people in this family, and five under 18, it really helps.”
Librarians
used to forbid any food or drink to avoid staining books and attracting pests.
People who tried to sneak snacks in the stacks would be reprimanded. But in
recent years, a growing number of libraries have had a major shift in policy:
They are the ones putting food on the table.
Hundreds
of libraries are now serving federally funded summer meals to children to
ensure that they don’t go hungry. The change is part of an effort to stay
relevant to patrons, and to pair nutrition and educational activities so low-income
children get summertime learning, too.
Enid
Costley, the children’s and youth services consultant for Library of Virginia,
summed up the rationale for starting to serve free food: “For kids to be
well-read, they need to be well-fed.”
The
Marysville Public Library serves free summer meals to children under this
pavilion. Participating sites must be in an area where at least 50 percent of
students get free or reduced-price meals at school. But any child can be fed. Credit
Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
If they
are worried about getting their next meal, she said, “It makes it harder to
learn. Giving kids books and nutrition is a win-win, all the way around.”
A couple
times a week, Taryn Dowdell, 27, sits in a quiet corner of the Elmwood Place
library and reads to her children, Tori, 5, and Tayrnce, 3, while they dig in
to their free lunches. Tayrnce scooped a heap of pasta into his mouth and said
softly, “It’s yummy.”
Ms.
Dowdell said her daughter, who will be starting kindergarten this fall, is
typically more picky so doesn’t always want to eat at the library. But today
they had little choice. “I didn’t have food at home, so we had to come,” she
said.
“Libraries
see that kids in their communities are hungry,” said Natalie Cole, a library
programs consultant for the California State Library. “We are not only
providing meals. We are providing learning opportunities and keeping kids
reading all summer long.”
After one
lunch, Danielle McFarland, the children’s librarian at Elmwood Place, gave out
tiny robots called Ozobots, which are designed for the youngsters to program.
Another time, she brought in a 3-D printer so they could see how it worked.
Local
sponsors like camps, operators of school feeding programs or churches procure
food to be prepared, get it delivered to sites like libraries, and handle most
of the administrative tasks and paperwork for reimbursement.
The meals
are paid for through the United States Department of Agriculture’s summer food
service program. In 2016, it funded roughly 50,000 sites nationwide as a way to
feed kids who rely on free or reduced meals during the school year. That year,
nearly four million children got roughly 179 million meals.
Since the
1970s, the U.S.D.A. has tried to fill the gap by providing meals at sites like
camps, parks and Y.M.C.A.s. But transportation can be a barrier for accessing
many of these programs, as are the limited number of summer camps and
activities for low-income kids, according to a new
report called “Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation” by the Food Research
& Action Center. In July 2016, summer meals served only one child for every
seven low-income children who participate in free and reduced-cost lunch during
the school year, the group said.
Jackson
Melish, left, and Molly Melish eating lunch at the Marysville Public Library.
Credit
Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
“Libraries
are an exciting opportunity to increase access,” said Crystal FitzSimons, an
author of the report. “There’s a lot of energy around recruiting libraries to
provide meals that’s happening at local, state and national levels.”
In
interviews, librarians and anti-hunger advocates in California,
Ohio, Virginia
and New
York all reported sizable increases in participation after a
concerted recruitment effort spread from state to state through webinars, librarian conferences and word of
mouth. In 2014, the U.S.D.A. started recommending libraries as potential
partners, and has an online tool to connect them to sponsors, said Jalil Isa, a
spokesman.
In 2016,
public libraries in California provided over 203,000 meals for children at 139
sites, up from just 17 in 2013, said Dr. Cole, who has a doctorate in
librarianship.
Last
year, Ohio had 133 library branches serving U.S.D.A.-funded food, up from 88 in
2014. “It’s been a significant mindshift,” said Janet Ingraham Dwyer, the youth
services consultant at the State Library of Ohio. “A lot of our buildings not
long ago had signs saying ‘No food allowed.’”
After the
U.S.D.A. push to involve libraries, Hunger Solutions New York, a nonprofit in
Albany, reached out to librarians in the state.
New York
has more than 115 participating libraries this summer, compared to 36 in 2013,
said Misha Marvel, a child nutrition programs specialist at Hunger Solutions
New York.
“Libraries
are a good fit,” she said. “They are a non-stigmatizing community-accepted
resource.”
Put
another way, going to a library is inconspicuous in a way that showing up at a
food bank isn’t.
Some of
the free lunches served to children at the library in Elmwood Place, Ohio.
Credit
Catherine Saint Louis
To be
eligible to serve food, a site must be located in an area where at least 50
percent of students get free or reduced-price meals at school. Census data can
also be used to identify areas of eligibility. But any child can be fed, once a
summer meals site is up and running.
Elizabeth
Elswick, 35, a receptionist at a Y.M.C.A. and a frequent patron of the
Marysville Public Library in Ohio, appreciates not having to prove her girls
“are worthy of having assistance” before they eat lunch.
Sitting
at picnic tables next to the library, Mrs. Elswick and her three daughters were
just one of dozens of families who stood in line to get strawberries, carrots,
oranges and Bosco Sticks (a lunchroom staple of
mozzarella-stuffed breadsticks). “There’s a diversity that prevents free
lunches from being stigmatized,” Mrs. Elswick said. “No one asks questions and
our kids are fed.”
When Kate
McCartney, the youth services manager in Marysville, heard there were no summer
meal sites in her county, she wanted to get involved. The program has grown
exponentially. In 2015, it served 4,082 meals; this season, with four weeks
left, more than 4,000 lunches have been distributed.
One
requirement of the summer program is that only kids 18 and under get a free
meal, so adults must bring their own food. “Fortunately we haven’t had too many
parents seem upset or seem to expect a meal,” Ms. McCartney said. “It’s one of
the roles of being a parent. You put your kid ahead of your own needs.”
At a
recent lunch, while she tallied meals in the pavilion next to the library, she wore
a smile and a “Build a Better World” T-shirt. “It’s making a difference,” she
said. “We are definitely getting the message out to more and more people every
year.”
In some
cases, summer meals are attracting new patrons. “Our summer lunch effort has pushed
more people into our libraries,” said Andie Apple, the interim director of
libraries for Kern County Libraries in California. “They don’t just come for
the meals and leave. They come for meals and stay.”
At Beale
Memorial Library in Bakersfield, Calif., in an addition to more than 3,000
meals served last summer, librarians also offered a Lego club, bilingual story
time, make-it-yourself slime, and creative time to doodle on paper-covered
tables.
Some
illustrators left notes for the librarians. “You can’t believe some of the
messages,” Ms. Apple said. “It’ll break your heart. They’ll write, ‘Thank you
for this meal.’”
Those
looking for a summer meals site can call 1-866-3-HUNGRY or 1-877-8-HAMBRE or
text “food” or “comida” to 877-877, or go the U.S.D.A.’s
summer meals site.
