This Week in Amherst History

But it was not just coats that were stolen. Often, bicycles were reported missing. “Someone simply used them to get where he was going,” said Police Chief Francis O’Connell.

In addition to a rise in the “borrowing” of bicycles, the library reported an increase in the theft of books and magazines. “Some students walk a tight rope between honesty and dishonesty,” said a member of the library administration.

The library was continually forced to replace missing magazines because students failed to sign them out. Until 1961, there was a Paperback Loan System that was discontinued because of theft. Many students failed to return the books they borrowed. According to The Student, books that were lost or never returned “totaled in the many hundreds.”