The Hamilton Library at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is very grateful to Michael Hollander for the recovery of 218 books—and for alerting the Library of the books' absence in the first place. Michael was contacted by someone in Hawaii who was offering over 200 books for sale.  The books were from the mid-1800s to the early 20th century and their total estimated value is between $50,000 to $100,000.  Upon receiving six books to examine, Michael noted that they were all stamped as property of the University of Hawaii and had UH bar codes, and he immediately contacted the Hamilton Library to confirm that they were indeed offering these volumes for sale. Associate librarian Alan Grosenheider was alarmed by the call because the UH " sell books like other libraries."  An internal investigation began and librarians discovered that the books were indeed missing from their shelves.  Michael provided police with the seller's return address, and they in run raided a Waikiki apartment and recovered all the books.  Police arrested and charged a former student of UH at Manoa with the thefts. Kudos to Michael for doing his due diligence and making the ABAA proud!

Alert collector helps UH retrieve stolen rare books