National Library lifts ban for pensioner who stole London Times’s crossword pages

An elderly reader at Valletta’s Biblioteca managed to get the Ombudsman’s intervention after being barred from the newspapers’ section for snatching the crossword page from the London Sunday Times.

The complainant was barred access to the national library’s newspapers section after being caught on CCTV taking away two pages from the Sunday Times.

The elderly person, who regularly availed himself of the facilities, said he had so acted because he did not have enough time to read the newspaper, from which, amongst other things, he used to copy the crossword and other weekly games in that section of the journal. He added that this newspaper was only available for perusal for one week, so it would not have been possible for him to copy the pages he wished during his next visit to the Library the following week.

The Ombudsman said the library staff had been justified in barring the complainant, especially given that the damaging of library records is a criminal act that carries a six-month imprisonment and €2,500 fine.

The national librarian is also empowered to expel any visitor who fails to respect the regulations or who does not behave in a satisfactory manner in the Library.

“There was nothing irregular in the sanctions imposed on complainant in this case. So long as the suspension imposed on complainant is for a reasonable time, this would be justified and indeed necessary,” the Ombudsman said.

However 10 months had passed from the time the complainant was debarred from access to the library section, and the Ombudsman opined that the scope behind the suspension had been achieved and that there was no reason for its further application.

“The legislation intended dismissal from the National Library of Malta as being a temporary suspension or payment of compensation,” the Ombudsman said of the laws applicable.

The Ombudsman concluded that the principle of proportionality between the seriousness of a particular case and the relative penalty should be respected.

The Ombudsman recommended that the decision of the authorities barring access of complainant to the National Library facilities be immediately reviewed and a reasonable date be established for complainant to be able to access the available facilities reserved for reading and research.

This recommendation was accepted and the complainant’s access and use of the facilities in the reading room was to be restored as from 1 April 2017.

The complainant was to be warned that in the eventuality of another breach of the Library regulations, more severe disciplinary measures would be applied in his respect.