Truckful of Library Materials Recovered from Patron’s Home

Truckful of Library Materials Recovered from Patron’s Home

An Akron woman faces felony charges of theft and receiving stolen property after police hauled more than 1,000 missing books, movies, music, and toys belonging to Akron–Summit County (Ohio) Public Library, some of which had disappeared as early as 2000, from her home in a pickup truck in mid-December.

Tammie Ware obtained 34 library cards by creating accounts for her four children under varying aliases, with herself as guardian, at different library locations, the Akron Beacon Journal reported December 20. The recovered items were not limited to children’s materials, however; among them was the Ohio Criminal Law Handbook.

The accounts were discovered when a circulation staffer, Sandy Brown, recognized the family. “Something clicked in her mind and said, ‘Something isn’t right,’” Marketing Director Carla Davis told NBC-TV affiliate WKYC December 19. “She started searching the records and seeing that there was this convergence of all these fictitious names at one address.”

Davis said the library has formed a task force of circulation staff from the main library and its branches to review its card policies and security measures. “We’re looking at software functions that will look at multiple uses of addresses or phone numbers,” she told American Libraries.

Posted January 4, 2008.