I was shocked by your report (Thefts by staff a common problem in UK museums, say experts, 18 August). It is all too easy for an anonymous staff member in an unidentified organisation to smear the whole sector by making insinuating comments about it being “institutionally corrupt” and suggesting that selling or appropriating objects in museums is considered “fair game”.
My own experience is entirely different. For 23 years, I have worked as a volunteer in the department of western art at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Not once in all those years have I come across the sort of attitudes described by your informant. On the contrary, all staff members with responsibility for the collections work to the very highest standards, and seek to enhance and cherish the objects under their care.
