Stolen books for Colorado City library recovered in Cedar City
 
By Jennifer Weaver
jeweaver@thespectrum.com
The Spectrum
 
CEDAR CITY — Tens of thousands of books stolen from a vacant schoolhouse in Colorado City may not have all gone up in flames from book burning that occurred Saturday.

The books were designated for a library in the polygamist community that had been collected from the individual efforts of Stephanie Colgrove, of Centennial Park, Ariz., and assistance from the HOPE Organization, a nonprofit organization that helps polygamous individuals or families safely integrate into mainstream society.

Since 2007, together they have been collecting books to start the library that has included donations from Hurricane Middle School and SkyWest Airlines. The HOPE Organization’s book donations were valued at more than $15,000. Barnes & Nobel donated $9,800 in books, and a private individual donated $1,500 worth of books that came in sets of four and five, and were composed of classics by authors such as Charles Dickens. Colgrove’s family collection she donated for the cause had not been appraised but it is estimated to have also been worth thousands of dollars.

Cedar City Police Department Sgt. Jerry Womack said Thursday a call was received from an employee at the Cedar City library who had read an article in The Spectrum & Daily News about the book burning and anonymous donation of books to the Deseret Industries in Cedar City over the same weekend by a group of young men in dress associated with the polygamous community. The books given to the DI were put onto 10 different pallets about four feet high.

"Somebody said last week, April 15, a person called and asked if the library accepted book donations, and the library employee said they did," Womack said. "Later, that same afternoon, some subjects pulled up in a U-Haul truck to deliver books, and there were boxes of them, like cases that filled the whole U-Haul ... The employee thought about how suspicious the book donation was and decided to report it to the police."

Womack said Ofc. Destry Griffiths investigated the report from the library employee and discovered the books the library received were the same type of books burned and donated to the DI, and subsequently also donated to Gateway Preparatory Academy in Enoch.

"The books missing were encyclopedias and dictionaries, and books like that," Womack said. "Officer Griffiths called Mohave County and Colorado City and let them know. They were already aware of the theft (of the books), but weren’t aware any had been delivered up here. It’s really Mohave County and Colorado doing the investigation where the theft occurred. It’s just recovered property for us."

Leslie DeSantis, administrative manager of the Bureau of Administration for Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, said the only information that could be made public is the investigation is ongoing. Colorado City Police Department referred all calls about the case to city hall, which would not comment until Monday.

HOPE Organization President Elaine Tyler was relieved to learn not all of the books were destroyed.

"We’ve got to get all these books back. They are library books. We are not giving up on this library and I’m so thankful not all the books were burned," Tyler said.

Though Colgrove was unable to be reached for comment, Utah Attorney General Spokesman Paul Murphy said he personally delivered books in his truck donated from book drives in Salt Lake City to benefit the library in Colorado City. He was joined by Jane Irvine, of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, who also personally loaded her vehicle and delivered books to Colorado City to benefit the polygamous community.

"A lot of people supported and rallied around Stephanie Colgrove because she is a person who loved that community and wanted to do something to help, and I think it is absolutely absurd that anyone would take books that didn’t belong to them to burn them and get rid of them," Murphy said. "It’s a terrible, terrible time. I think it is a real wake-up call that there are people who are out to hurt and stop other people who disagree with them. A book burning is a symbolic act of anyone who disagrees with them.

"Last time we saw book burning it was in Nazi Germany and was an attempt to stop people from hearing anything other than what they wanted them to hear," Murphy continued. "This may be the final straw to get the library opened, so maybe something awful will be turned around to something good to finally get it done."

Part of the reason the library had been stalled from ever opening is a dispute over the building to house it. The schoolhouse approved with an occupancy agreement to store the books is UEP property, and so is the building that was earmarked for the library. UEP property is encumbered in litigation from the federal, district and circuit court of appeals.

"We’ve been working with the federal court, state court and court of appeals for us to get the building donated to Mohave County that has agreed to pay for librarian, and pay for bookcases, to get it up and running, but we’ve been on hold for about a year and a half," Tyler said. "The building that was always going to be the library, the FLDS in the fall of 2009, said, 'no, we don’t want the library in that building,' and pulled this bait and switch on us so we’ve had a difficult time."

Challenges are still expected once the books are recovered. Transporting the books back to Colorado City, determining if they are safe to be kept in the polygamous community and where to store them are all new scenarios that have to be addressed.

"How are we going to get the books? How much is that going to cost us? Are we going to have to rent storage? There is still a lot of stuff to figure out," Tyler said. "Regardless, I’m thrilled that someone had the wherewithal and decency not to torch them all. You don’t even burn one book. To burn even one book is wrong."
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published April 22, 2011
 
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