 "Photo: Michael Baldon/The Daily Texan")
Students have been losing more than just sleep at campus libraries in recent weeks.
UT police officers have reported a rise in campus thefts — in particular at the Perry-Castañeda Library — throughout the month of October. UT officials are warning students to keep a constant watch on their belongings in light of the recent slew of locker break-ins by brazen thieves.
Thirty-five incidents of on-campus theft, not including stolen bikes, have been reported to UTPD since Oct. 7, accruing a total estimated value loss of $13,994. At the PCL alone, there have been 19 incidents of theft, comprised of eight lockers being broken into and 11 instances of items being left unattended either on the floor or on desktops.
Jenifer Flaxbart, PCL head librarian for reference and information services, said the recent uptick in thefts is highly unusual for this time of the semester. She has filed incident reports at the library for the past five years.
A more ambitious set of thieves has set its sights on the PCL, said UTPD Officer William Pieper. Thefts have included not only unattended items, but also those left within secured lockers.
“Sometime in the past month or so, a thief realized there are a lot of opportunities [at the PCL],” Pieper said. “They may have a particular tactic they use to defeat the locker. They may have some knowledge or some tool that allows them to do it proficiently.”
“The key thing is kids have to guard their books, their purses and their bags better than they are doing,” said Kenneth Jones, owner of Beat the Bookstore, where some thieves have attempted to sell back stolen books. “You want to think things are safe, but there always seems to be some kind of predator.”
Jones and Pieper both referred to a theft that occurred at the Texas Union on Oct. 20, in which a female student was working on her laptop and using headphones when her backpack — with her books and wallet inside — was stolen from under her seat.
The student, after realizing the disappearance of her backpack, immediately notified UTPD and began searching in bookstores and on the Drag.
“She actually had written on one of the pages in her textbook a unique identifying number related to her,” Pieper said. “She went back to the bookstore and said ‘on this page you will find this,’ and because of that, the operator of the bookstore knew what to look for.”
Jones said the description of the book from the student allowed an employee to identify it when the alleged thief attempted to sell the book. Jones “instantly knew he was not a student,” examined the book and then called the student and UTPD. The man was arrested and the student is pressing charges.
Jones said numerous people that attempt to sell back textbooks, who either look suspicious or do not possess a student ID, could be turned away. An identification number encoded into each book sold at Jones’ bookstore helps identify its true owner.
Catherine Hamer, UT Libraries interim associate director for user services, said the PCL has started a series of announcements over the PA system and will display new signs to warn students not leave their items unattended. She said increased security of the more than 800 lockers in the PCL is important, but a cost-effective way of solving the problem has not yet been determined.
Pieper said following the student’s example of writing a unique ID mark, like your driver’s license number, within the book is the best method of recovering a stolen book. But nothing matches sheer awareness.
“The biggest thing students can do to prevent thefts is to be mindful of where their property is, and when I say that I mean have it in your possession,” Pieper said. “Students don’t realize a theft can occur in just seconds, and that’s all the time a thief needs.”
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