EASTON -- A Trumbull woman has been arrested after police said she was tardy bringing back books she checked out for her children from the public library.
Nancy Harris, 58, of Paugusett Circle, Trumbull, who also worked at the library, was booked Tuesday on one count of fifth-degree larceny. She was released on a promise to appear in court pending arraignment on Thursday in state Superior Court in Bridgeport.
According to police, in July Bernadette Baldino, the director of the public library, complained that Harris, an employee of the library, had been using her Trumbull library card and two Easton library cards she had signed up for in the names of her two children, to borrow numerous books, DVDs and magazines from the library. Baldino told police Harris' children were not eligible to receive a town library card because they are not Easton residents.
Police said Baldino told them that Harris, in the span of a year, had checked out 121 items valued at $3,048, which she had not returned. Police said as of Aug. 6, Harris had returned all but 25 items, valued at $385.
Police said when they confronted Harris, she told them she didn't understand why she was being arrested because she had already returned all the items she had checked out of the library.
Harris told the Connecticut Post on Wednesday that police have incorrect information. "I don't have any books from the Easton library or any other library," she said.
Baldino said it was First Selectman Thomas Herrmann's decision to call police. She also disputed the amount of items Harris checked out from the library.
Herrmann declined to comment, stating the case is a "ongoing investigation."
"I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. I was hopeful she would return the materials before this was necessary," she said.
Baldino said Harris had checked out 78 items, including books, DVDs, magazines and audiotapes.
"I had to take action to get the materials back because it was a blatant misuse of her position as a library assistant," she said.
She said that she gave Harris 24 hours to return all the materials, but Harris took five days. She said 98 percent of the materials have since been returned.
Harris, who has been employed full-time at the library since 2003, was allowed to retire.
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