Hefty library fines dog even 5-year-olds

December 28th, 2006

This article bothers me in so many ways, I don’t even know what to quote. I’ll go with this:

“The 10-year-old is being held responsible by the Allen County Public Library for $778 in fines and replacement costs of items checked out in his name. The 5-year-old is also facing fines and replacement fees, although Mason isn’t sure how large those fees are. Mason says library officials won’t tell him. He’ll have to take the child to the library and have him ask how much he owes.

But how do a 5-year-old and a 10-year-old pay such hefty fines? Mason says he’s been told that when they are 18 they’ll be sued for it. Meanwhile, because they owe large fines, they can’t use the library.”

Not only that, but this stinks too:

“According to a 2005 report, in the previous 12 months, 82,000 items were borrowed from the library and not returned. Those items had a value of $1.4 million.”

A lose-lose situation. Sad.

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