Four books at Ohio State’s Main Library were found laying out on a table with pictures of adolescent boys clipped from them. This type of vandalism is similar to what has been discovered at OSU and other universities in the past year.In the fall, Susan Wyngaard, head of the Fine Arts Library, said nearly 50 books had been clipped in the same way.The pictures clipped are not sexual and are used in different contexts, usually educational or cultural, said Wes Boomgaarden, preservation officer of OSU libraries.”The pictures are essentially innocent, so what motivates the criminal is beyond me,” he said. The problem first came to OSU’s attention last fall when the Ohio University’s Head of Library Preservation, Patricia Smith-Hunt, borrowed books from OSU to replace OU’s damaged books through Ohio-Link library system.At OU, librarians discovered nearly 200 damaged books, but there are no recent reports.Last fall, photos clipped at OSU libraries were the same as the ones clipped at OU, Smith-Hunt said.OSU police Chief Ron Michalec said there could be a connection between the incidents at other universities, but he can not say for sure.”It wouldn’t surprise me if someone was traveling around from library to library,” he said.The investigations are continuing at OSU and university police have no concrete leads, Michalec said.”It’s maddening, book vandalism is a criminal activity, and like most is hard to catch,” Boomgaarden said.Because the books are not used regularly, libraries do not recognize the vandalism immediately, Michalec said.William Studer, director of OSU libraries, said book vandalism is “100 percent unpreventable and is frustrating for the whole library community.””In the past, we have taken provisions on older manuscripts that have historical significance like putting them under an alarm system and using closer supervision,” Michalec said.The library and the police are working together in an effort to stop the vandalism, Boomgaarden said. “The only thing we can do is be alert and request that patrols be extra suspicious and watchful,” Studer said.Security frequently patrols the libraries, but because the library is a large building and finding a private place is not hard, it is a difficult task, Boomgaarden said.The Fine Arts Library consists of only two floors and is less challenging to supervise, compared to the Main Library which has 14 floors, he said.”I hope the suspect or suspects are caught and punished to the fullest extent,” Boomgaarden said.