By JENNIFER GANTT ABSHE
More than the usual overdue books were missing from the Harold B. Lee library last semester. In fact, over $2,000 worth of stolen books were recovered on Oct. 26 with the help of a BYU security employee.
Jeanette Farnsworth, a former BYU student from New Mexico, and Robert Baldowski from Pennsylvania, have been charged by the Utah County Attorney’s office with a third-degree felony for the theft of the library materials.
Baldowski along with Farnsworth, who is disabled and uses braces for walking, would mix the stolen books with books that were legitimately checked out. When the anti-theft alarms sounded as the woman tried to leave the library, she would claim that it was probably her braces and the library staffers would let her through, said Lt. Arnold Lemmon of the University Police Department.
In early October, a library security employee checked her bag before allowing her to pass and found books with the identifying bar code marked out, which led to the University Police’s visit to Baldowski’s home where they recovered a collection of BYU library books on physics, chemistry, electronics and other subjects, Lemmon said.
Farnsworth, 36, was a sophomore with an open major in Spring Term 1988. Baldowski is 42.
“Both have been permanently banned from campus,” said Lemmon. “The library has contracted with the University Police to provide security and that will help cut down on theft.”
When the construction on the library is finished, Lemmon said there are plans for upgrading security efforts with a new alarm system. The police and security officers are working closely with the library staff to create a heightened security awareness in attempts to keep security problems at a minimum.
“General concern about theft and defacing of library materials have led to tighter security,” said Brent Harker, of BYU Public Communications, in a story by the Associated Press. “Security people have been doing the checkout and security people were the ones who caught these two.”
