Small Change Big Problems : Detecting and Preventing Financial Misconduct in Your Library

Contents: Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Fraud: how it occurs in organizations and why libraries are susceptible. 2. Internal control: what it is and why libraries need it. 3. Common weaknesses in your library\'s internal control system: how to recognize and correct them. 4. Change management and fraud prevention: allowing the improvements you make to work. 5. Specific types of fraud: understanding, detecting, and preventing them. 6. Uncovering fraud: techniques for your library to use. 7. If fraud happens: dealing with the fallout. 8. A closing thought: getting what you pay for in fraud prevention. References. Index.

"Fraud requires three conditions: financial need, rationalization and opportunity. Lax or nonexistent financial management, along with an "it cant happen here" attitude, creates the quintessential circumstances for fraud to happen in many libraries. 

This hands-on guide discusses the unique vulnerabilities of libraries, especially as their assets grow. From daily book fines to budgets in six or seven figures, library assets offer ample temptations to the attentive thief, who is other someone in a position of trust. Proactively putting financial controls in place can remove the opportunity for fraud. 

Synder, a long-time fraud detection expert, outlines solutions covering technical aspects of detecting and preventing fraud in libraries, while pointing out ways of modifying entrenched behaviors to reduce the chances of theft.

Outlining specific types of fraud, with tips to combat each, the book also addresses why libraries are particularly susceptible to fraud, and what other libraries have done to detect and prevent fraud. 

Library directors, business managers, board members, and trustees will find here no-nonsense answers to protecting their library\'s assets." (jacket)