Security
In 2005, the art thief Edward Forbes Smiley III, a well-known and trusted antiques dealer at that time, was caught slicing maps from rare books with an X-acto blade. He had dropped the concealed tool on the floor, and it was spotted by an alert worker. Smiley was arrested, and later served several years in prison for thefts of rare documents valued in millions of dollars from this and other libraries.
The Beinecke library operates under a closed stack system, and rigorous security rules now allow carefully controlled access to materials in a spartan subterranean reading room, under video surveillance.
The glass-enclosed central stacks (not accessible to the public) can be flooded with a mix of Halon 1301 and Inergen fire suppressant gas if fire detectors are triggered. A previous system using carbon dioxide was removed for safety reasons.
An infestation of bookworms was controlled by freezing books and documents at -33 °F for three days. All new acquisitions are given this treatment as a precaution.
Read more about this topic: Beinecke Rare Book And Manuscript Library
Famous quotes containing the word security:
“Is a Bill of Rights a security for [religious liberty]? If there were but one sect in America, a Bill of Rights would be a small protection for liberty.... Freedom derives from a multiplicity of sects, which pervade America, and which is the best and only security for religious liberty in any society. For where there is such a variety of sects, there cannot be a majority of any one sect to oppress and persecute the rest.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“Learned institutions ought to be favorite objects with every free people. They throw light over the public mind which is the best security against crafty and dangerous encroachments on the public liberty.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“Of course we will continue to work for cheaper electricity in the homes and on the farms of America; for better and cheaper transportation; for low interest rates; for sounder home financing; for better banking; for the regulation of security issues; for reciprocal trade among nations and for the wiping out of slums. And my friends, for all of these we have only begun to fight.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)