The Chicago Tribune has a story about the criminals who steal books.
From said story...
Yet the same question -- is stealing books a simple, black-and-white issue? -- sent Bartlett to the prison in which John Charles Gilkey, another highly successful stealer of books, was then being held. Unlike Blumberg, who received a 5-year sentence for his crimes, Gilkey stole mainly from antiquarian book dealers, not libraries. Blumberg worked out intricate systems to thwart university security systems; Gilkey stole credit cards and wrote bad checks.
Bartlett spends a great deal of time interviewing Gilkey, both in and out of prison, recording his equivocation and his loneliness and his pathetic self-denial. "The Man Who Loved Books Too Much" ends up underlining an important sociological truth: For all of our excitement about new media and innovative forms of storytelling, when it comes to signifying high culture, books still rule. Books are symbols of erudition and sophistication. If you want people to think you're intelligent, you install bookshelves in your home and you fill them up. Gilkey, Bartlett notes, was obsessed with "the image of an English gentleman with a grand library." He wants books because, he tells her, " 'There's that sense of admiration you're gonna get from other people.' "
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