How did $8 million worth of rare books, maps, and other valuable pieces disappear from a Pittsburgh, PA library?

Most libraries don’t have a first-edition book signed by Thomas Jefferson. They don’t have a copy of Principia by Sir Isaac Newton, worth $900,000.  They don’t have an extremely valuable copy of The Journal of Major George Washington.

That’s because books like these are kept in special libraries designed to archive rare and extremely valuable books. These are libraries with high security and numerous safeguards in place to protect the priceless trove within from temperature fluctuations, light, air, insects, and people. So how, exactly, did $8 million worth of rare books, maps, and other valuable pieces simply disappear from such a library in Pittsburgh, PA?

They were stolen. In broad daylight.

In the depths of the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, PA, sits the Oliver Room, home to extraordinarily valuable antique books, manuscripts, maps, and artwork. Designed by George Priore, its manager, with high security in mind, the room has only one point of entry and only a few copies of the key. The hours are limited. The windows are all blocked for safety and climate control. All guests must sign in and out. No personal items are allowed inside, including coats, bags, and purses. The room is under 24-hour video surveillance with an advanced security system. And the manager and chief librarian’s desk sits in a place where he can supervise activity in the room and observe visitors at their worktables. All materials are checked after use. In fact, the Oliver Room was known to have some of the best library security measures in the world.

So in 2017 when the library administration discovered that many of the library’s holdings had disappeared, they were shocked. How exactly did some $8 million worth of materials simply disappear? How did someone pull off the largest American library heist in over a hundred years? Where did $8 million worth of priceless materials go? And who took them? It was a classic locked-room mystery.