A St. Paul woman who worked for the city's library system admitted Monday to stealing more than 1,400 books, DVDs and other materials from the library.
Amanda M. Cortright, 31, pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to a felony charge of receiving stolen property. As part of a plea agreement, a felony charge of theft by swindle was dismissed.
St. Paul police began investigating Cortright, a circulation clerk, in March 2010 after library officials reported their suspicions that she was stealing items, according to the criminal complaint. Officials started monitoring her activity on library computers in December 2009 and determined that she had created four fraudulent accounts using the last name Chatsworth. She would check out items using the accounts and then mark them as missing or deleted, which meant the library could no longer track the items. She also deleted $349 in overdue fines connected to her account.
Police searched Cortright's home last April and discovered more than 1,400 items that belonged to the St. Paul Public Library, including Berenstain Bears books, DVDs of the TV show "Mad Men" and Vanity Fair and Good Housekeeping magazines. Library officials placed the value of the materials at $37,779.24, the complaint said.
Thomas Donohue, Cortright's attorney, declined to comment. Cortright, who had worked for the St. Paul library system since 1998, was on unpaid leave last April, but it's unclear whether she is still on leave.
Cortright is scheduled to be sentenced June 22 by Ramsey County Judge Judith Tilsen.
LORA PABST
