Paula Reed Ward, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Two men charged with stealing more than $8 million in rare books from Carnegie Library
[Kip Currier: This
is a deeply troubling "library theft" and "breach of the public trust"
story, with enormous implications about ethics, management, leadership, and Board responsibility and oversight. It'll definitely be a case study in my courses at the University of Pittsburgh and in the ethics textbook I'm writing.
Reading the Perry Mason-esque True Crime-confessional details (e.g. Priore: "greed came over me. I did it, but Schulman spurred me on") in The Post-Gazette's front-page article brought to mind the oft-heard adage "Crime doesn't pay"--a favorite slogan of the FBI, starting in 1927, and then
used in the comic strip Dick Tracy in 1931.]
"It ranks as one of the largest library thefts in history.
Greg Priore, 61, of Oakland, who worked as the sole archivist and
manager of the library’s rare book room since 1992, is charged with
theft, receiving stolen property, conspiracy, retail theft, library
theft, criminal mischief and forgery.
John Schulman, 54, of Squirrel Hill, who owns Caliban Book Shop, is
charged with theft, receiving stolen property, dealing in proceeds of
illegal activity, conspiracy, retail theft, theft by deception, forgery
and deceptive business practices...
“Priore explained that he took a lot of maps and pictures – in all
possibly 200 items – from the Oliver Room. Priore then stated ‘You got
me, I screwed up.’ He also stated, ‘Please tell [library executive
director] Mary Frances [Cooper] I am sorry and I let the whole place
down.’”"
Issues and developments related to ethics, information, and technologies, examined in the ethics and intellectual property graduate courses I teach at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information. My Bloomsbury book "Ethics, Information, and Technology" will be published in Summer 2025. Kip Currier, PhD, JD
Showing posts with label one of largest library thefts in history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label one of largest library thefts in history. Show all posts
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Two men charged with stealing more than $8 million in rare books from Carnegie Library; The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 20, 2018
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