Machine Checks Theft in Library

To protect a new open-stack collection, the Baker Library at the Business School has installed an experimental electronic warning system, which traps book thieves.

The warning system checks everyone who leaves the Core Collection of fundamental business texts. A magnetic field detects special metallic bookplates, and a turnstyle halts anyone trying to remove the books without charging them out.

Since the Core Collection opened on September 10 the warning device has trapped dozens of Business School students, many of whom have carried nothing more suspect than metal briefcases.

Leased from the manufacturer. Checkpoint Systems, for $2000 a year, the "book control system" is the first at Harvard. If the staff approves the experiment, the system may eventually check circulation for all of Baker Library.

Nancy Wright, a Library attendant, said yesterday that the warning system usually catches books and magazines. "Students who are stopped," she said, "express shock, embarrassment, and often pain when the turnstyle hits their knees."