CRANBERRY TWP — There’s been a rash of book thefts in the past several months from libraries in the region, and the township library is no different.

Director Leslie Pallotta said that her staff discovered one book has been stolen from the library, “The Swan Gondola” with an estimated value of $25.

Some regional libraries have been taken for thousands of dollars in thefts of best-sellers that the thieves sell on the Internet.

The Cranberry Public Library has been luckier than its counterparts in that it hasn’t experienced widespread theft. But that doesn’t mean employees there aren’t aware of the impending threat.

“We have the police headquarters in our building, which is a nice bonus for us,” she said.

Pallotta said her staff didn’t even have a clue that the book was stolen since it never showed up in the library’s computers as being checked out because it wasn’t.

However, the woman who bought the book online found the Cranberry library’s stamp in the book and contacted the staff. That is when the determination was made that the book had been stolen about a month earlier.

Pallotta added that police have a suspect and that her employees have been asked to watch for the person.

“We have a picture of the person suspected, so we know who we’re looking for,” she said. “You have to be pretty hard up to be stealing from a public library.”

As of now, the director said she’s treating the book theft as an isolated incident and that she doesn’t expect more. But that doesn’t mean she’s not remaining vigilant about it.

“All of our staff have been notified to remain vigilant,” she said.

But the thefts have been much worse elsewhere.

Jill McConnell, the interim library director for the Cooper-Siegel Library in Fox Chapel, Allegheny County, said Wednesday that her library has been hit hard with book thefts.

She said more than 260 books have been stolen in the past several months, an amount that has cost the library about $6,000.

McConnell has no idea if her case is connected to the one in Cranberry, although police in the Fox Chapel area do have a suspect in mind.

“Police do have a pretty good idea who they think it is,” she said. “As far as I know it’s only one person.”

Amy Kellner, the adult services library for the Zelienople Area Public Library, said Wednesday that her facility hasn’t been hit by the rash of book thefts, but that doesn’t mean she’s not looking out for it.

“I was surprised when I heard (about the thefts),” she said. “We keep our best-sellers right across the checkout desk, so we keep a pretty good eye on them. Maybe that has helped. Or maybe they just haven’t made it this far north yet.”

Kellner said her staff is accustomed to books going missing now and again, primarily those for young adults. However, she said she can’t remember another time when best-sellers were vanishing at the hands of thieves.

Santana Balestreire, the director of marketing and communications for the Northland library in McCandless, said Wednesday that the library has had thefts but couldn’t comment further.

“We don’t really have much to say regarding the incident,” she said. “It’s in the hands of authorities.”

Lori Hinderliter, the executive director of the Butler Area Public Library, said she hasn’t noticed anything missing from the facility. But that doesn’t mean she’s not looking.

“I just became aware (of other book thefts) this last week at a meeting when I learned about the theft in Cranberry,” she said. “I haven’t even had time to investigate but I’m telling everyone to keep an eye out.”