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Woman steals 142 nonfiction books from library
Fairfax City Police are still searching for someone to book on charges of stealing 142 library books from the Fairfax City Regional Library.
According to police, on Sept. 10, a branch manager of the Fairfax City Regional Library, 10360 North Street, reported that between noon and 8:45 p.m. Sept. 9, an unknown suspect had stolen an estimated 150 books from the library.
An unknown female subject had been observed late that day removing bar codes from books and placing them in a bag.
Library spokeswoman Mary Mulrenan said that to her knowledge the incident was the largest single-day theft of books in Fairfax County history.
The stolen books range in topics including fashion, finance, self-improvement, numerology and reference items. Mulrenan estimates that some of the stolen reference books could have values as high as $40 to $45 each.
"The total value of the stolen books is over $2,000," she said. "The evidence that we found was at the end of the day and we feel that the books were all taken in that one day."
Mulrenan would not say if removing the bar codes from the books effectively disabled the library's existing security system. She did point out, however, that none of the books stolen was of the fiction or fantasy genre, and that all the books seem to run along the theme of self-help or personal improvement.
"They all seem to be about learning or gaining or improving," Mulrenan said.
Although the motive for the theft is as yet unknown, Mulrenan said the resale value of the books is certainly a possibility. "I certainly know that books can be sold via Amazon.com and other Internet outlets," she said.
Many online outlets for used book sales exist. Some, such as cashforbooks.net, even pay for the shipping.
Tom Anderson, a spokesman for textbookx.com, said that by and large, the history of books sold online is not researched.
"Currently we do not have the facility to check whether the seller is selling a stolen book or not," he said.
Fairfax City Police spokeswoman Sgt. Pam Nevlud said police are still investigating the incident and no arrest has yet been made.
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