An Amazon seller has sent me a stolen library book

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SilverCamellia

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Hi,

I ordered ‘Catholicism for Dummies’ through a ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ seller. The book was described as ‘Very Good’ and cost £10.30 as compared to the Amazon price of £12.

It arrived this morning and it’s clearly from a library. It is the second edition (published only last year) with a plastic cover and the Dewey 282 REL on its spine. The front page, which would usually have the library stamp sheet, has been torn out. The book looks brand new and only the cover has ever been opened. I think there is very little chance that a library would retire it.

So I am not sure what to do about it. It would be unethical to keep it if it really has been stolen. I could complain to Amazon about it being a new library book, but I don’t know if they’d do anything about the seller. I could return the book to the seller, but what if they didn’t give me a refund? There is no library stamp inside the book that I’ve seen, so I can’t return it to its library. Might there be a valid reason for a library to cast off a brand new book?
 
Our local library has regular book sales. The books they sell range from very old (the oldest I’ve seen is 1910) to brand new. They include not only retired library books, but also donated books and much newer books of which they have a surplus. Since it’s not really possible to verify that your book was stolen (the seller most likely wouldn’t admit to it), I don’t know that it would be unethical to keep it. While it could be stolen, it very well may have been purchased from a library sale legitimately.
 
I agree with the above poster. You have acquired the book through legitimate means. The assumption should be that the bookseller did likewise.

If there is sin, it is on the bookseller, not on you.

Peace
James
 
I agree w/ the other posters. Public libraries are enduring rough times right now; many of them are losing funding. It may have come from one that unfortunately needed to close, and they may have closed out with a big book sale.
 
As everyone said above, it’s likely not a stolen book but a sold overstock book, or one they just simply needed to move to make funds. If you are truly concerned that it might be stolen, call the library listed in the book and ask them specifically if it was stolen, then proceed from there.
 
SilverCamellia said:
It arrived this morning and it’s clearly from a library. It is the second edition (published only last year) with a plastic cover and the Dewey 282 REL on its spine. The front page, which would usually have the library stamp sheet, has been torn out. The book looks brand new and only the cover has ever been opened. I think there is very little chance that a library would retire it.
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I realize you are in the UK, and your situation may be different, but here in the US I have twice ordered used books via Amazon knowing they were former library books. Both booksellers even mentioned that origin in their book description. I believe both books had stamped, somewhere, the words “Withdrawn from circulation.”

Is it possible to double check the book description which you ordered from? Is there any indication which library it originally came from?
 
It doesn’t necessarily mean it was stolen. Perhaps the seller checked out the book, lost it, and then found it again. If that were the case, the seller would have been charged a lost book fee…in which case they now legally own it.
 
bmullins said:
As everyone said above, it’s likely not a stolen book but a sold overstock book, or one they just simply needed to move to make funds. If you are truly concerned that it might be stolen,** call the library listed in the book **and ask them specifically if it was stolen, then proceed from there.
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The trouble is: the page was removed.
But, if that happened to me, i`d just do what you and others have said and put the book to good use - for the greater glory of God.
 
SilverCamellia said:
Hi,

I ordered ‘Catholicism for Dummies’ through a ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ seller. The book was described as ‘Very Good’ and cost £10.30 as compared to the Amazon price of £12.

It arrived this morning and it’s clearly from a library. It is the second edition (published only last year) with a plastic cover and the Dewey 282 REL on its spine. The front page, which would usually have the library stamp sheet, has been torn out. The book looks brand new and only the cover has ever been opened. I think there is very little chance that a library would retire it.

So I am not sure what to do about it. It would be unethical to keep it if it really has been stolen. I could complain to Amazon about it being a new library book, but I don’t know if they’d do anything about the seller. I could return the book to the seller, but what if they didn’t give me a refund? There is no library stamp inside the book that I’ve seen, so I can’t return it to its library. Might there be a valid reason for a library to cast off a brand new book?
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I applaud you for your ethics! You’re going to be an AWESOME Catholic!

👍

Unlike the others, I think you may well be right, that the book was taken from a library and then sold. What a pity, but since you have no idea what library it may have been stolen from, you can’t try to return it. And since the seller didn’t say it was a former library book, there is no sin on your end. Will it bother you to keep the book?

I’m thinking that if this had happened to me, I would contact the seller first and ask what the circumstances were. If I felt he was not truthful, I might go ahead and contact Amazon. But I do not believe that would be necessary, since there is little they could do. Perhaps they would close his seller account, but that would be based only on hearsay from you.

If having the book will bother you, I’d ask the seller for a refund and send the book back to him.
 
For whatever reason, I have noticed more and more frequently, retired library books in the used book system. It may be that the book you purchased was retired because the particular library had multiple copies of it. Just recently I purchased a book for $3 from a reputable brick and mortar bookstore from the used book section which was in exactly the same condition as you described. I find it hard to believe that they would be involved in the sale of stolen library books. So as other posters have observed, I think there is no compelling reason to believe the book was stolen and you shouldn’t be concerned about it. In this day and age, with things being as they are I do however commend you for considering the possibility that the book was stolen as I think many people wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Good for you and God bless you.
 
SilverCamellia said:
Might there be a valid reason for a library to cast off a brand new book?
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Yes. They do it regularly at ours. They buy like 20 copies of a book when it comes out so that they can meet their circulation needs, but then they have no need to keep 20 copies after everyone who is excited to read the new book reads it. They don’t keep the 20 copies long-term. They don’t have the shelf space to do that. Though, with some books they do keep more than one copy on the shelves long term.

Of course, I doubt they bought 20 copies of the book you mention, but they might well have bought two.
 
It is very common for books in almost new condition to be sold from libraries, and when they appear on Amazon, they will be listed as “having library markings.”

The page was torn out probably because of a security device that was there, that would have been sn issue in mailing it. Such devices range from pieces of magnetic tape to metal plates between the front cover and fly leaf.

So you have no reason a priori to assume the book was ever stolen. The burden is not on you to prove it wasn’t. Make use of it in good conscience.

ICXC NIKA
 
Lots of libraries in the UK have been closed in the last couple of years. There were lots of “save our library” campaigns in the news. Maybe this book is from a library that was closed. Some of their books – even the new ones – will have been sold off if they are duplicates of books in nearby libraries. This will be especially true if, as you say, the book looks like it was never borrowed; of course the library will try to get rid of it!

I think there is enough probability that the book was not stolen. If you are really bothered, you could contact the seller.

If it was borrowed and never returned, the library will have a record and will eventually charge the borrower for a replacement.
 
Libraries regularly have used book sales, and they sell them very cheap.

So used books from libraries regular show up on the used book market. There’s nothing at all unusual about this, and one should certainly not presume there’s been anything illegal done.

And so too, the library when selling the book may remove some of their materials from it.
 
I have seen a lot of remaindered library books, and I have never seen any of them with the library stamp page torn out. That’s the aspect that makes me think this was a “permanently borrowed” book. Libraries don’t usually tear out pages. They will stamp over or mark the book “retired” or something, but NOT deface the book by tearing out a page.

But regardless, there is little that the OP can do if the book was stolen. She can pray for the seller and/or whomever stole the book. She can decide if having the book will bother her too much to get value from it. She can donate it or return it if that is the case.
 
Also it could be that whoever sold you the book had originally checked it out from the library, and held on to it long past its due date. Many libraries will fine you for the cost of the book. At that point, once you have paid the fine, the book is yours. Not that it’s ever happened to me. I *always *return my library books on time :whistle:

Anyway, whatever the history of the book, the sin is not yours. I hope you find the book useful in your faith journey 🙂
 
I buy books all the time from library sales that do not have “withdrawn” marks and look
“new.” I know sellers sometimes remove ownership markings etc. - not criminal, just trying to improve book appearance etc. I wouldn’t report seller unless you know for a fact, no doubt, book is stolen because this is their livelihood. Reporting them with no proof on suspicion could ruin their only source of income.
 
bonvivantHermit said:
I buy books all the time from library sales that do not have “withdrawn” marks and look “new.” I know sellers sometimes remove ownership markings etc. - not criminal, just trying to improve book appearance etc. I wouldn’t report seller unless you know for a fact, no doubt, book is stolen because this is their livelihood. Reporting them with no proof on suspicion could ruin their only source of income.
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The OP could ask Amazon about it, merely as a concern. Amazon is an informed bookseller and understands the standards that surround selling used library books on the open market. If you ask and don’t accuse and let Amazon investigate the matter or give an answer about it or give an informed opinion about how to deal with the matter, I don’t think the vendor’s reputation will be unfairly harmed. Rather, you’ll get an informed answer about whether the concern is real and how to deal with it if it might be.
 
EasterJoy said:
The OP could ask Amazon about it, merely as a concern. Amazon is an informed bookseller and understands the standards that surround selling used library books on the open market. If you ask and don’t accuse and let Amazon investigate the matter or give an answer about it or give an informed opinion about how to deal with the matter, I don’t think the vendor’s reputation will be unfairly harmed. Rather, you’ll get an informed answer about whether the concern is real and how to deal with it if it might be.
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Good idea.👍 Amazon would want to know if there was anything “shady” going on with a seller.
I have a lot of books from various libraries that I have bought 2nd hand. Some have had the front page torn out. This is usually because the book was a gift to the library with a special sticker denoting such, & so when they sold the book, that page was removed to keep that info confidential.
Your ethics are to be commended! Thank you for your good example!!http://foolstown.com/sm/appl.gifhttp://foolstown.com/sm/appl.gif
 
We home school and I frequently purchase used books from Amazon and other sellers to lower our costs.

I have dozens of old library books. I know that a lot of the titles I purchase are out of print and probably out of circulation in most libraries OR that they were very popular when they came out and not very popular now, so additional copies that the library purchased would have been sold off.

It never even crossed my mind that they might be stolen.

I think you should listen to the PPs. If you obtained it through legitimate means then you should assume that the seller did, as well.
 
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