Posted March 26, 2004.

Eugene Police Seek Book-Theft Suspect

Eugene, Oregon, police have a suspect in a string of thefts of vintage books from the University of Oregon’s Knight Library. Police with a search warrant found seven of the missing volumes in the apartment of Douglas Collver, 33, the Associated Press reported March 23. Computer records uncovered in the search showed that Collver sold approximately 300 books ranging from 75 to 150 years old in Internet auctions. According to the records the books netted some $20,000.

Collver was not at his apartment when police served the warrant March 12. He has contacted the police and promised to turn himself in twice, but has not done so. Collver is also wanted for failure to appear in court on other burglary and theft charges. According to police, the books were held in the library’s open stacks and were available to the general public. Police told the AP that the books were valuable more for their age than their rarity.

Collver came to the attention of the police after a buyer of one of the books took it to a dealer to be repaired. The dealer found a faint imprint of the library on a page and contacted the library to discover that the book was stolen.

Posted March 26, 2004.