Library.

But the 326 books were not taken in one large raid, they have just not been returned over a period of years.

And the 194 forgetful or selfish book borrowers may have deprived fellow students of vital information.

College Librarian Ms Daurene Aubrey says that many of the books, like Quantative Controls For Business, which went missing in 1985, and The Soviet Achievement, that vanished in 1990, are now out of print.

Ms Aubrey said: "People borrowed the books as students and then went on their ways, even though most of them did not leave the Island.

"The library held an amnesty so people could bring their books back and it worked quite well but there are still many outstanding books.'' They even called in a credit association which, unfortunately, went out of business before many people were caught.

Because the library is run on a shoestring, it cannot afford any expensive searches for books so they are relying on the "delinquent'' parties to bring the books back even after nearly a decade in some cases.

Since the books have been missing the library has had to bring in a membership scheme to try and keep a tight rein on its property.

However Ms Aubrey reports that 50 of the delinquents are presently part of the 700 membership.

She said: "326 books may not seem a lot out of 25,000 but they represent a lot of money and you have to think in terms of students waiting to borrow them later.

"This could easily have affected someone's studies if they needed a certain book at that time.''