Tighter buyback regulations at the University of Minnesota area stores are driving textbook thieves to seek profit on the web.
With more off-campus stores adapting the University bookstoreâÄôs policy of requiring identification upon transaction, stolen textbooks are showing up on online retail sites.
âÄúThis is kind of a newer thing. ItâÄôs like a new niche of sorts,âÄù University police Deputy Chief Chuck Miner said.
Textbooksrus.com, which purchases used textbooks, reported in January that five textbooks they purchased from a customer had markings indicating they were property of the UniversityâÄôs Bio-Medical Library. The website contacted Steven Llewellyn, the library manager of Health Science Libraries, who confirmed the textbooks were stolen.
According to Chris Gravenfox, TextbooksrusâÄô director of trust and safety, the website finds stolen library books sold to them about once a month.
âÄúWe try to keep an eye on this as much as possible just to make sure that we donâÄôt get anything illegal in,âÄù Gravenfox said.
In the past, thieves would steal unattended textbooks and sell them back to bookstores, Miner said.
âÄúWe had chronic thieves for a while who would frequently come to the University to steal textbooks,âÄù Miner said.
But the spreading ID requirement, which helps bookstores keep record of purchased textbooks, for on- and off-campus bookstores has greatly slowed down this trend, he said.
Oak Street Textbooks, a local off-campus bookstore, rarely saw stolen buyback textbooks last year, said Clay Keenan, the storeâÄôs buyback specialist.
The University of Minnesota Bookstores would not comment on the number of stolen textbooks or attempted stolen textbook buybacks due to security concerns.
The Coffman Union bookstore reported two textbook thefts last week. The bookstore had eight thefts since September, with the majority of them occurring in September and October, Miner said.
The Wilson Library reported stolen books last Wednesday and in December.
âÄúItâÄôs highly unusual,âÄù said University Libraries Collection Development Officer Charles Spetland.
He said theft of unattended belongings is a more typical issue for University Libraries.
