Last week two portraits were stolen from the Olin Library lobby. I am distressed about the theft for two reasons: that a unique, irreplaceable part of Wesleyan’s tradition has been taken from the community; and community trust has been shattered in a way that is likely to change Olin Library’s environment.
The students have always ranked Olin Library as a favorite spot. I like to think this is because it is a beautiful building and a place that supports faculty and student inquiry, wherever it might lead. Librarians and staff are always there to help if asked, but also to respect student privacy in their journey of intellectual discovery. We have always worked together in an environment of mutual respect and trust.
Once a major theft takes place, the whole environment of a space is transformed. Librarians have at least two important roles: to provide unfettered access to information and to the building that holds it, but at the same time to be stewards of that environment.
At Olin in recent years we have opened up the lobby for student art exhibitions and live performances. How many of us remember the Tibetan monks crafting a sand Mandela in the lobby, with Middletown school children working on their own Mandela under the monks’ tutelage? That delicate creation, and the monks’ marketplace, was vulnerable to vandalism, but the entire community respected its existence. Last week a faculty member asked if I would be interested in displaying his work and I was happily anticipating a changing artistic scene in Olin. Now I will need to rethink such offers.
Many libraries that are victims of similar thefts have had to install surveillance camera—ecause of the unfortunate acts of only a few. I sincerely hope that we don’t have to invade patron privacy in that way, but as stewards of the building and its contents, we may have no other choice.
Please, if you know anything about the two portraits that were stolen, consider what I have written above.
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