Some Observations on Systematic Book Theft

As suggested by the title of Lawerence S. Thompson's 1968 work, Bibliokleptomania, it is tempting to view the systematic theft of library and archival materials as a disorder. However, a cursory comparison of the descriptions of habitual book thieves in works like A Gentle Madness, to those found in the literature of psychology, suggests the need for further research, and identifies a potential area for collaboration among librarians, archivists, psychologists, and other behavioral scientists.