Library Stuff

“A presidential memorabilia collector who has acknowledged stealing thousands of rare and valuable documents from historical societies and archives nationwide was set to be sentenced Wednesday in federal court. Barry Landau was caught stealing documents from the Maryland Historical Society in July 2011. A subsequent investigation concluded Landau, 64, or New York, stole at least 4,000 documents worth more than $1 million from archives around the country.”

via AP

Chicago Sun Times – “A janitor wrote the book on how to get arrested, authorities say. Now he’s charged with stealing thousands of books and DVDs from the Lisle Library and selling them on the Internet. The case started in April, when a librarian found a notebook, apparently left accidentally by the alleged thief, James F. Jackson, 43, of Glen Ellyn. Handwritten in the notebook was a list of hundreds of books, said Katharine Seelig, acting director of the Lisle Library District. Some of the books listed in the notebook were missing from the library, Seelig soon found out. They had not been checked out, but they could not be found on the shelves.”

AP – “Berlin’s Central and Regional Library says it will return books the Nazis stole from the Social Democratic Party, including an English-language copy of the Communist Manifesto. The copy dates from 1883 and is believed to have belonged to Friedrich Engels, who penned the original German work with Karl Marx in 1848.”

AP – ” A published presidential historian was one of two men caught with millions of dollars in documents from the Maryland Historical Society, including some signed by President Abraham Lincoln, according to court documents. Baltimore police charged Barry Landau, 63, and Jason Savedoff, 24, both of New York City, on Saturday with theft of more than $100,000 and they were ordered held on Monday. The FBI is involved in the investigation under a federal statute that covers thefts from museums.”