The most remarkable thing about the recent theft of rare maps and documents from the Bangor Public Library is that it didn’t happen a long time ago. In fact, the issue of library theft – especially the theft of rare books and other documents – has been a growing epidemic across the country for years. Barbara McDade, Bangor Public’s librarian, stated she didn’t understand why anyone would do this kind of damage to steal these precious documents, when they are available for free. The answer is simple: big money.

The problem isn’t limited to libraries. Churches and small local museums are prime victims. A priceless stained glass window signed by Comfort Tiffany was stolen from St. Savior’s Episcopal Church in Bar Harbor in 1990; I was called upon to help, since I had some contacts in the art world. A friend of mine, who was an editor at Art & Antiques magazine, told me that St. Savior’s got off light. A Shaker church in upstate New York that same summer had been completely cleaned out, pews and all. In Old Town, someone stole the statuary right off the front lawn of the Holy Family Parish Catholic Church a few years ago.

Perhaps the most famous library/museum thief was Stephen Blumberg, now doing time in federal prison for his exploits. He went to amazing lengths to steal books. He would gain access to special collections libraries by posing as a college professor, fake ID and all, and hide in their air ducts until the library was closed, and then he would go to work. Among the items he stole were an original Gutenburg Bible, a collection of George Washington’s wartime letters and the founding papers to the state of Oregon.

Libraries are a valuable public resource without rare documents. They provide, at a minimal outlay of public resources, free access to information to all citizens. But they are also repositories of those cultural items – maps, diaries, letters – that identify how we have become who we are. The loss of those items can’t be made up by a budget allocation. The theft of public treasures in a library, ultimately to be sold privately to a collector, is among the worst offenses that can be committed against a community.

Imagine if someone stole your family records to sell on the black market or your antique family photos. How would you feel? In essence, that is what’s happening in the area of library theft.

I have been mindful of this situation since before I was in the Legislature. Since then I have introduced several bills to address the problems posed by the incident in Bangor and similar incidents around the state. Two years ago, legislation I introduced was passed into law protecting library items in circulation. This year, LD 1020, a resolve to designate rare book, manuscript and vital records repositories has been given a favorable report by the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee with an amendment to develop an educational component to assist small libraries and museums in assessing and protecting their most valuable items.

Time is on the side of thieves. But people would do well to communicate their concern about the safety of their community’s libraries to their public officials, and urge them not to ignore the needs of those libraries in protecting the community’s heritage.

Matthew Dunlap is a state representative from Old Town.