Contra Costa College’s library was broken into in the middle of the night on Thursday, Feb. 29. According to the staff, the suspects took an estimated $9,000 worth of equipment including webcams, headphones, computers, scientific calculators, and much smaller items like pens and first aid kits.
In addition to the items that were stolen, it rattled the entire staff to have found the library in such disarray.
“It was our senior librarian technician who came in the morning and noticed that the circulation desk was a mess, then this area [reference desk] was a mess, then we noticed the broken window, which is how they came in,” said Library Chair, Erica Watson, on who was the first one who noticed the break in.
Watson said the library staff was very upset that this occurred and teamed up to clean up the mess quickly in order to open its doors to the students that same morning.
With the missing items being equipment that students depend on a daily basis and go to the library for, Library Technician Joe Roberts says students are the most impacted.
“Someone came in for a webcam today and we don’t have any, because they stole the webcams, we tell them that and we can tell they feel bad, it really makes us feel bad because we can’t do what’s best for the students,” said Roberts.
He also said that students have been very understanding of the situation and feel bad for what the library has gone through.
Although currently there is less equipment for students to check out than usual, Diablo Valley College library is loaning the library some items such as calculators to check out to the students here in CCC. But Watson said that CCC’s president Kimberly Rogers and IT are working with them to replace the stolen items and hope to have them by the end of spring break.
Despite it being an unfortunate event, they are relieved that it didn’t happen at the beginning of the semester when the library gets the busiest in checking items out to students.
“Luckily it’s late in the semester, it would have been a much different story, much more panic,” Watson said.
As of right now, the lieutenant declined to provide the police report, since this is still an ongoing investigation.