JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville man and his brother fall victim to carjackers in a place where most people feel safe -- the local library.

Gentry Jackson, 25, said he was just returning some books at the drop-off bin when three men approached him. One of the men had a gun and demanded the victim's car.

It happened at the Bradham Brooks Northwest Branch Library on Edgewood Avenue just east of Lem Turner Road.

"Every day when I come home from work we just like to read," Jackson said.

The avid reader said it was just after 9 p.m. when he and his brother stopped to drop off some books at the public library.

He said he left the car running in front of the drop-off bin when two men wearing Scary Movie masks over their faces and an armed gunman popped up from behind a van.

"I was in disbelief. I didn't think it was really happening," Jackson said. "He waived the gun and said 'give it up buddy.'"

He said the thieves were already standing by his car and had pointed the gun at his younger brother by the time he put the books in the bin and turned back around.

"At the time, I wasn't scared. I was trying to protect my brother. I didn't want anything to happen to him," Jackson said.

Before the thieves took off with his car, Jackson said he asked them if he could at least have his belongings from inside the car.

"The one in the back was nice enough to take my stuff out and put it on the floor, and then they drove off," Jackson said. "The fact that they did it was kind of funny."

While he was able to laugh a bit at the crime, other library patrons said they would think twice about trips to the library.

"This is a terrible thing to happen at the library. You should be safe here," one woman said.

Police recovered Jackson's car near the Buckman Bridge on Tuesday morning. Detectives said they would try to lift fingerprints from the vehicle in an effort to identify the culprits.