Granted, I've never really considered living in Iowa, & this story sure didn't help. Shelly Koontz was arrested in January of this year for not returning one library book. She had to post a $250 bond & was charged with theft. The librarians had made several phone calls & written attempts to contact her about "The Freedom Writers Diary" being overdue. Granted, I haven't read the book but I find it ironic that it uses the word freedom. She also had to pay $50 in court costs & of course either return the book or pay $13.95.
I'm surprised that the fines weren't more, my library charges by the day. However, they let you just pay for the cost of the book if your fine is more than that. In an age where so few people are reading, why make them scared of the library? I'm an avid reader, everything from Lipofuze reviews to War & Peace & this made me uneasy. It just seems like a lot of trouble. I can see all of the trouble if she had actually checked out the first edition of the bible or something.
2 comments:
Her library needs to institute Free Fridays which happen once a month at my library. I would have a lot of jail time if I lived in Iowa! And then who would raise my children?! And take them to the library?!
thank you for sharing these story..i didn't know that this could possibly happen..well, next time i will be returning borrowed books before its due..thanks for the info!:)
Post a Comment