Library books mistakenly sold off

About 20 library books were accidentally put on permanent loan by students in the English Department at a book sale on Locust Walk Tuesday. According to Van Pelt Circulation Services Coordinator Emily Batista, some of the books at the sale were actually borrowed from the Van Pelt Library -- and were not supposed to be auctioned off. She said the problem arose when members of the English Undergraduate Advisory Board, which coordinated the sale, mistook a large box of library books stored in the English Majors Lounge in Bennett Hall for books that had been donated to the sale -- which happened to be stored in the same place. Like the rest of the used reading material sold, the library books were offered for $2 apiece. About 45 minutes after the book sale commenced, a former work study student in the Circulation Department browsing through the texts realized that some were owned by Van Pelt. The student, who Batista would not identify, rushed to Van Pelt immediately and informed her of the situation. College senior Elizabeth Fekete, who was working at the sale when the student recognized the library books, said she was "just standing there and this crazed woman started taking books." Batista said she became alarmed when she heard of the situation. "I went over there right away and I said, 'Hey, these are library books and I'm taking them,'" she said. "I couldn't carry them all in one trip." So far, Batista and other library staff members have been able to recover 18 of the library books, the exact number of which were involved has yet to be determined. The person who left the books in Bennett Hall -- whose identity Batista also refused to disclose -- will have to pay $50 for each book not returned. One book was returned by a student who realized it belonged to the library when she saw the bookplate and call number. But most of the texts were captured by Batista before they were bought. "Most of the books were not sold because they look like library books," said College senior Carlos Decena, who also helped to coordinate the sale. "And library books are not particularly attractive." Although Batista was upset by the incident at first, she said things could have been much worse. "These might have been books that were older -- that didn't turn out to be the case -- but it could have been a big loss," she said. "But this was an honest fund-raising experience for the students that simply went awry." "This is one of those freak things you would never expect to happen," Batista added.