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Canada as well as the States. He’s the greatest American book thief of the twentieth century.”
    He pours his coffee. I pour mine. We take our seats as if the show’s set to begin.
    â€œThat’s sixty or seventy books a day for a year.”
    â€œAdd to that all the time he spent scheming,” says Henry.
    â€œHe’d need a shopping cart for that many volumes.”
    â€œHis techniques were more subtle: everything from false IDs to stolen keys. My personal favourite is the simplest.” Henry brushes off his fingers on the armrest of his chair then raises one finger at a time for each item. “Locate the books, check them out, bring them home, remove the protective magnetic strip, return them to the library the following day.” Next, he holds up the other hand. “Return to the library, remove the books from the shelf, conceal them under your clothes, stroll out of the building.” For the finale, he turns his outstretched hands palms up. “No magnetic strip, no alarm.”
    â€œClever scheme for sure. Not foolproof though.”
    Henry crosses his legs and leans back in his chair. “Not quite. One of the libraries maintained a digital archive of borrowers’ records. They knew exactly who’d borrowed what, when. They were missing a particular book, checked their records and voilà. Since I’m not in the habit of boring people with detail, the rest you can imagine. Find yourself a miniature Blumberg. Prove that tracking patrons’ borrowing histories can catch thieves and you’ll have them eating out of your computer. Speaking of eating.” He goes to the coffee stand while I stare ahead into the Room.
    Henry’s not the only one who doesn’t understand my project. It’s meant to make best use of information on borrowing and querying. What types of books are borrowed the most,longest or never? At what time of day, week or year are the most books borrowed? Do faculty or males query the database more than students or females? What are they searching for? I was relieved when the Chief Librarian asked me to give a talk at Library Council to explain the project. The timing was ideal. The Internet had just taken off. It was a historic moment in the evolution of libraries. I was there to be a catalyst for great change. I thought maybe some day people would look back on the work I did as a great achievement. I dreamed of getting an award.
    I arrived to give my talk. The Chief introduced me. I was about to speak when a hand went up. It was a comment for the Chief from Francis. “Before any more money is spent on digital systems, a committee needs to be created to set a strategy and goals for what we want this library to look like in five or ten years time...” When he finished talking, others joined in. Someone said the committee needed to determine the duties and role of the Head of Digital Systems. Another person asked if we really needed a digital systems unit. I looked at my watch. There were twenty-five slides, two minutes per slide for a fifty-minute talk. Their discussion evolved into a debate about policies and procedures, whether the Chief really had the authority to advertise the digital systems position in the first place. Francis sat back with his arms folded. Within less than a week, he formed People for Privacy.
    â€œMy project isn’t designed to catch thieves. You know that, Henry.”
    The nerve is acting up again. He darts his hand to his back so quickly you’d think he’d been stung. He squirms in the chair. Then his face relaxes and he continues. “I don’t care what your project is designed for anymore than do the People for Privacy. I doubt if anyone cares besides you. Show that your project can stop library theft and people might start to listen.”
    â€œYou seem to know Blumberg well. Invite him for a visit, have him steal a few hundred books while he’s here, why don’t