Couple charged after allegedly stealing hundreds of library books, reselling them at bookstore

MESA, Ariz. (AZFamily/Gray News) — An Arizona couple is facing serious charges after authorities said they stole hundreds of books from the public library and resold them to a bookstore.

Library officials contacted Mesa police on May 19 and reported a woman was trying to resell the items to Half Price Books, according to court documents.

The bookstore contacted the library system after the woman brought in 19 books, all of which had a Mesa Public Library label on them. The bookstore refused to buy the books, and the woman left the store without them.

The library took the books and scanned them, finding that they were checked out to an Ian Bartlett. Records showed he had two library accounts, one of which was suspended because $1,565 worth of books were never returned, according to court documents. The second account had 66 books outstanding.

The bookstore then gave police five different receipts from transactions involving Athena Bartlett. She allegedly sold 423 books to the bookstore between May 7 and May 14.

When library officials checked records, they found that between Ian Bartlett’s and Athena Bartlett’s accounts, more than $6,500 was owed.

On Aug. 10, Mesa library officials contacted police after seeing the couple back inside the library.

During an interview with police, Athena Bartlett allegedly admitted that the two took the books to resell them.

Both were arrested and are facing charges of trafficking in stolen property.