Cincinnati PL Loses $17K in AV Thefts
By Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 4/15/2007
Officials at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCHC) are calling it the worst case of theft in library history, having lost 837 children’s DVDs and video games worth $17,000. Cincinnati resident Maria T. Daniels enlisted her four children to open library accounts under false names, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, and then sold the library’s property to local resale shops. Daniels used 22 aliases, and her children used 70.
The scheme unraveled after detectives, responding to a theft report, searched for the children in local schools. Children need not show identification to get a card, and the library sets ten DVDs as a borrowing limit. Library spokeswoman Amy Banister said PLCHC would review its policies.
