ABSTRACT
New York law is such that technically the ploy is illegal, even though the payment has been made for the materials which are claimed to have been lost. There are methods by which unscrupulous persons may obtain library materials illegally and keep them without fear of prosecution. A despicable practice that has been noted is for an adult to have a child take out in his or her behalf materials which the adult has no intention of returning. Persons who admit that materials are lost and then pay for them gain a right to the materials. A case occurred at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in which a patron took out valuable children’s books and reported them lost. The patron knew that under library regulations he would only be charged the printed price of the book, even though the books were valuable collectors items.
