[MSN] Insider theft. LIBRARY worker is being investigated by police after thousands of pounds worth of rare books and documents vanished from Manchester's Central Library.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

6th June 2006
Rare library books turn up on eBay
Exclusive by David Ottewell and Nicola Dowling


BOOKS: Central library.A LIBRARY worker is being investigated by police
after thousands of pounds worth of rare books and documents vanished from
Manchester's Central Library.

The losses came to light after someone approached Manchester council - which
runs the library - to say some of the books had been advertised on the eBay
auction website. 

The police were called in and took hundreds of books from the employee's
home.

At least one of the missing books is thought to be over 300 years old and
worth more than £20,000. The total value of the missing volumes is thought
to be in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.

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The worker was arrested following the search and released on bail while
police continue to sift through items recovered from his home.

Arrest

A police spokesman said: "A man was arrested in relation to the theft of a
number of books from Manchester Central Library. 

"The man from Hulme has been bailed until June 28, pending further
inquiries." 

The library, built in the 1930s, is home to thousands of books, boasting
extensive archives and valuable reference materials. In 2000, precious
archives were unlocked for a major exhibition celebrating 150 years of
public access to archives at the library.

The exhibition included a copy of the first Radio Times, a hand-written
songbook from George Harrison and a Manchester theatre programme listing
Dickens as a cast member. 

Several manuscripts, including volumes from the Manchester Concerto
Partbooks, acknowledged as an important source of Vivaldi's Four Seasons,
were also displayed.

Manchester council has declined to comment on the investigation.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/