Library Stuff » Overdue

For Young Readers, a Chance to Work Off Library Debt

Steven M. Cohen — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:21:13 +0000

“Mark is just one of many young scofflaws who are taking advantage of a program by the Queens Borough Public Library intended to help younger library users eliminate their overdue fines. While the penalties for failing to return an item on time for library users younger than 21 might not seem high – 10 cents per day for a book, $1 per day for a CD or DVD – they can add up and be onerous for children from families of limited means. And once library users have accumulated a total of $15 in fines, their borrowing privileges can be suspended.” (via NYTimes.com)

Student blocked from homecoming over library book

Steven M. Cohen — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:23:06 +0000

“Punished for reading? A Cypress Lake High School freshman was blocked from going to homecoming because of an overdue library book.

“This is my dress I got for homecoming,” said Dominique Stearns, showing off her gold and white dress. She says she went to at least 10 stores and spent hours shopping with her mom trying to find the perfect dress.”

via WFTX-TV

Amnesty bringing in fine haul for library

Steven M. Cohen — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:06:19 +0000

“On March 15, 1975, a man owed a book to Chicago Public Library.Tuesday, more than 37 years later, he ventured into the Oriole Park Library and returned it.For three weeks, all fines for overdue books are being forgiven under the citys first complete library amnesty in 27 years. The program started Monday.Jessica Bertola, head library clerk at Oriole Park, said the man told her he had been cleaning his Naperville home and found the book, “Fluidic Systems Design Guide.”

via Chicago Tribune

Are you a library scofflaw?

Steven M. Cohen — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 12:17:47 +0000

“Your library card status may soon follow you like your credit history. Washington and Dakota county libraries are pursuing a $47,000 federal grant to try out a library card verification system that would tell them instantly if someone from the neighboring county is a good bet as a book borrower People increasingly use libraries where they work or visit, not just where they live, and a computer link between library patron accounts would stop people from ducking fines for overdue materials at their home libraries and skipping to another county to get books.”

via StarTribune.com

Throwing the Book at Overdue Book Offender

Steven M. Cohen — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:19:06 +0000

“Lori Teel said she can’t remember checking out a “Twilight” book and movie from the Portales Public Library, but she’s not likely to forget her overnight stay in jail for failing to return them. Teel was arrested and handcuffed at her Portales home in front of her five small children earlier this month because of $35.98 worth of library materials allegedly taken out and not returned, according to a tort claim notice sent to the Portales city clerk on Monday. The overdue library fine led to a summons for Teel to appear in Portales Municipal Court, according to the claim. A municipal court judge issued warrants for Teel’s arrest last year after she failed to appear in court, but the summons and warrants were mailed to an address at which Teel hadn’t lived since childhood, and she never received any notices, she and her attorney say.”

via ABQJournal Online

NY library worker sentenced for stolen book fines

Steven M. Cohen — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 02:16:10 +0000

“A New York library worker who admitted stealing more than $160,000 in overdue book fines and other revenue has been sentenced to six months in jail. The Westchester district attorney’s office says Yonkers resident Margo Reed will have to pay back the full amount and spend 4 1/2 years on probation.

via Associated Press

Some Greater Boston libraries are dropping fines for overdue materials

Steven M. Cohen — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:15:51 +0000

The Boston Globe – “On a Saturday morning at the Gleason Public Library in Carlisle last month, Jason Walsh deposited a tall stack of materials on the returns desk and automatically reached for his wallet. It was the end of school vacation, and he was sure that at least a few of the books, CDs, and DVDs his three young daughters had consumed over the past week had accrued some fines. But the librarian waved him off, explaining that Gleason had stopped charging for overdue materials five months ago. Like many library patrons, Walsh was surprised. Aren’t overdue fines as integral to the fabric of the public library system as, say, Dewey decimal numbers or signs asking for quiet?”

Bookworm Scofflaws Get a Break

Steven M. Cohen — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:14:00 +0000

WSJ – “Somewhere—maybe forgotten under a sofa cushion, or jammed at the bottom of a long-abandoned backpack—is a copy of “Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z,” borrowed from the Brooklyn Public Library system on Feb. 28, 2001. It’s time to bring it back. Under a new amnesty program launched Thursday, the city’s three library systems will forgive all penalties on overdue books and other materials checked out by children under age 18. And that includes “Eating the Alphabet,” the Brooklyn system’s longest-lost item checked out by a young patron.

CARLSBAD: Cache of stolen library books found, woman arrested

Steven M. Cohen — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:36:00 +0000

North County Times – “Police recovered thousands of stolen library books and DVDs and arrested the 44-year-old woman who had them at her home, Carlsbad police said Wednesday. Maria Nater of Vista was booked into Vista jail Tuesday night on suspicion of receiving stolen property, according to San Diego County Sheriff’s Department records.”

About 325,000 Items Missing from Houston Libraries

Steven M. Cohen — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:00:00 +0000

AP – “One look at the Houston Public Library’s delinquency records is enough to both buoy and sink the hearts of book-lovers: Borrowers seem to like the printed word so much that they’ve failed to return 243,102 books since 1999. In all, 119,558 library patrons have taken 325,000 items from the system since 1999, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of the delinquency database.”

200-year-old library book returned to Camden

Steven M. Cohen — Fri, 13 May 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Bangor News – “The worn leather book might be riddled with tiny wormholes and have pages that are yellowed by time.

But two centuries after being part of Camden’s very first lending library, Oliver Goldsmith’s 1790 “History of England, Vol. 1,” has come home at last to the delight of astonished local librarians.

A man from Thousand Oaks, Calif., hand-delivered the book in mid-April to the Edward J. Walsh History Center at the Camden Public Library, along with two other antique volumes with strong ties to the area.”

Vt. woman facing charges for overdue library items

Steven M. Cohen — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:02:00 +0000

AP – “A Vermont woman is facing charges that she failed to return hundreds of dollars’ worth of books and videos from the library. State Police say the 35-year-old woman from Concord has been cited on a charge of theft of rented property.”

Calif library book returned – 74 years overdue

Steven M. Cohen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:15:03 +0000

Sacramento Bee- “A Sacramento woman is proving that it’s never too late to make things right. Ninety-five-year-old Hazel Severson says a friend found a book that her late husband had borrowed from an Amador County library in 1936 while sorting through things for a garage sale.”

Decades after deadline, relative of books borrower ready to turn it back in to Lancaster library

Steven M. Cohen — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:37:36 +0000

Dallas Morning News – “The book has been a part of the old mans family longer than he has – since 1937, when his mother or dad checked it out from the Lancaster public library and never took it back.”

Cops: Ex-Randolph, NJ, man failed to return $2,500 in books, DVDs to library

Steven M. Cohen — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 01:09:56 +0000

Daily Record – “An arrest warrant has been issued for a man now believed to be living in his native Taiwan for failing to return or pay for $2,499 worth of DVDs, videocassettes and music books he borrowed in 2008 from the Randolph Township Public Library. Five weeks ago, Randolph Patrolman Daniel Novoa spoke to the library director, who reported that Hsian Kao signed out DVDs, VHS cassettes and musical instruction books on April 29, May 3, and May 12, 2008. The $2,499 value of the books does not include late fees.”

New and Creative Leniency for Overdue Library Books

Steven M. Cohen — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:03:41 +0000

NYT – “Since the beginning of the economic downturn, librarians across the country have speculated that fines for overdue items are keeping people from using the library — particularly large families whose children take out (and forget to return) many books at a time. Some libraries learned that the fines, which are often as low as 25 cents an item per day, quickly multiplied for many people and were becoming an added hardship.”

Libraries on the book case for overdue fines

Steven M. Cohen — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:16:57 +0000

Boston Herald – “The value of the materials is fairly high. We need to replace them,” said Martha Holden, director of the Peabody Institute Library, which has sent the law after a trio of overdue culprits. The Peabody library filed criminal complaints against 19-year-old Alyssa Toste and 23-year-old Jeramie Crane on Dec. 15. Despite repeated notices, both Toste and Crane failed to return more than $500 worth of overdue books, DVDs, music CDs, books on tape and other items, Holden said.”

Book 99 years overdue returned to Mass. library

Steven M. Cohen — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:51:20 +0000

AP – “The book returned to the New Bedford Public Library in Massachusetts this week wasn’t overdue by a week, a month or even a year. It was nearly a century overdue, and the fine came to $361.35. “Facts I Ought to Know about the Government of My Country” was supposed to have been returned by May 10, 1910.”

Overdue Library Books Returned Half Century Later

Steven M. Cohen — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:26:37 +0000

KPHO – “Camelback High School librarian Georgette Bordine says the two Audubon Society books checked out in 1959 and the money order were sent by someone who wanted to remain anonymous.”

Discussion at FARK

Arrest warrant issued for mother charged with overdue library book

Steven M. Cohen — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:26:54 +0000

KENS5 – “If only she had returned that library book to the Killeen Public Library, this would not be an issue. “I was floored,â€ Rogers said. â€œI couldn't believe a warrant for a library book.”Â During an ugly divorce, Rogers and her 5-month-old son left Killeen and headed south to San Antonio, leaving behind a rocky relationship and a library book.”

Library tracks down missing materials

Steven M. Cohen — Tue, 26 May 2009 01:14:08 +0000

SMAP – “The days of duping the librarian without consequence are over. Most people who have ever checked out a library book have had to deal with some sort of overdue penalty at least once in their lives, but very few have had the pleasure of dealing with Unique Management Services, Inc., a collection agency, representing the Santa Monica Library, geared specifically toward the reacquisition of library materials.”

Chicago library doubling its late fee

Steven M. Cohen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:12:51 +0000

Chicago Tribune – “Take that, Amazon.com. Another dime for an overdue book? Fine.”

Woman fined $190 for overdue books

Steven M. Cohen — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:27:57 +0000

TMC – “On Oct. 2, Municipal Court Judge Steven S. Kidder ordered the Victoria woman to pay the city $190 after she returned three books — nine months late — and failed to respond to library and city notifications about their overdue status.”

More on Overdue Fines

Steven M. Cohen — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:32:11 +0000

Winfield Courier – “The Arkansas City Public Library is celebrating its 100th year of operation, but you’re the one getting a gift. Starting Jan. 1, the library is getting rid overdue fines. Items checked out from the library will no longer accrue overdue fines, and all past overdue fines will be forgiven.”

More on Late Fees

Steven M. Cohen — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:53:06 +0000

Tongue in Cheek blog post? – “Good for those librarians, teaching people not to take them for granted! They put up with so much between the loud-talkers and the book vandals, they should play hardball.”

This story really is taking off. It could be good PR if spun the right way. Kami, David, how should we spin it?