stephanier.1765 Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 Oh dear, that seems a bit excessive especially since she has proof that the books were lost in a house fire. She really should have paid to replace the books but still..... http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/texas-woman-jessekah-few-jailed-for-overdue-library-books/19749685?test=latestnews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 Oh No! Library Books....Texas.....it wasn't Aubrey was it? She hasn't added house fire to her saga, has she :svengo:? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntieM Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 She should have used insurance money to pay for them but, honestly, if my house burned down, replacing library books would be secondary to replacing many other things. It does seem odd that this is happening seven years down the road. Auntie M (who is now scurrying around gathering up overdue library books) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 A friend of mine just got a call from a collections agency. She recently moved, and the library where she used to live turned her over to them for a children's book that got ruined in the rain. Before moving she'd talked to a librarian, and was under the impression they'd get back to her with a negotiated replacement price. (They originally wanted $27, which my friend thought was unreasonable for a generic Dora book.) Now the collections agency wants $37 to settle it. I'd be super-pissed if my library turned me over to collections, especially without any attempt to reach me. And jailing someone over books lost in a fire is just over-the-top insane. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehog Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 Heck.. if they jailed for overdue library books over here, I'd be inside for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 That happened a few years ago in FL. They actually arrested the woman (who was pg) at the library in front of all her kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebug42 Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 Our library system will turn you over to collections for lost materials only if it is over $25. They give you some time to pay first though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 TX has some very strange laws and seem to apply them willy nilly. My brother was arrested in the state of NY for a warrent in TX for obstructing a creditor. He had rented a tv from a rent to own place. When he moved to NY he brought the tv with him. He was still making the regular payments on the tv. He hadn't missed any or had any problems with the company but was arrested because it had removed the item from the state and therefore they could not repossess it if they needed to. He spent three days in jail before they released him because TX would not extradite. The police (two agents) busted down my door with guns drawn. I was nine months pregnant and naked at the time. They would not allow me to get dressed until they secured my brother although the did allow me to cover up. My son just had all of his misdemenor charges in TN dropped from three years ago. He has not been dealing with this for three years. They just suddenly arrested him in another state and did extradite him to TN. He went to seven court dates just to be released for the time served while they were holding him from arrest until being released after his first court date was set. I have heard on people (again in TX) being arrested, up to ten years after the fact, for not paying traffic tickets that they did in fact pay. I got one non-moving violation once (in TX) and I kept every single piece of paperwork to prove I paid the fine just in case this ever comes up again. Not only is the a PITA that cause finacial strain and trauma to a family but I just can't help thinking that it is a complete waste of tax payers dollars. They aren't even recovering the money that it takes to arrest and process these crimes. Quite frankly, I would much rather they concentrate their time, energy and resources on viollent crimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 Was she jailed for the overdue books or for failure to appear in court? Was she able to plea to the overdue books on the condition of the failure to appear charge being dropped? A failure to appear charge could haunt one for the rest of one's life. A charge of overdue library books makes one think the authorities had nothing better to do with their time. I don't think it is right to jail someone or turn them over to collection agencies because of overdue library books, but this woman had 7 years to come up with the money for replacement books, and was summoned to court, which it appears she blew off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarcyB Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 Yeah - I'm thinking this was a failure to appear arrest more than the library fines. I know a lot of cities here just turn you over to creditors if fines are not paid after a length of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyniffrec Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 I just checked out some library books for the first time in years. The fact that they turn you over to collections, and now apparently arrest you, for overdue books, is too much stress for the benefit of borrowing a book. After hearing this I won't be checking out anymore books. Many times it is cheaper to just buy the book and resell it, especially when libraries are constantly blaming patrons for damage that they didn't cause in books they've checked out as well. For some reason I don't think this is what Benjamin Franklin had in mind. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary in VA Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 While it seems over the top to put someone in jail for overdue library books, I think there was more involved here. There were multiple requests to return the books, they were over $200 in value (we don't know how much over, $200 just triggers action to get the money) and she failed to appear for a court hearing. The fire happened over 7 years ago and it appears she just ignored the issue after that. She still owes for the books and if she had approached the library maybe they would have worked it out with her. But she just ignored the whole thing. How does the library know what happened if she doesn't tell them? You can't just ignore a court summons. Bad things happen when you do that! Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatCyndiGirl Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 While it seems over the top to put someone in jail for overdue library books, I think there was more involved here. There were multiple requests to return the books, they were over $200 in value (we don't know how much over, $200 just triggers action to get the money) and she failed to appear for a court hearing. The fire happened over 7 years ago and it appears she just ignored the issue after that. She still owes for the books and if she had approached the library maybe they would have worked it out with her. But she just ignored the whole thing. How does the library know what happened if she doesn't tell them? You can't just ignore a court summons. Bad things happen when you do that! Mary While this is all true....and she did need to be held responsible for it.....I just can't help but feel that if I had this woman living in my neighborhood and her only crime was blowing off the library or their collection agency, I could still sleep well at night. I don't consider her much of a threat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 Alright now I'm starting to freak out about a video that is charged to my library card that I never checked out. It was back in 1997 and somehow an Arthur video was charged to my card and my dd had only just been born and I had never yet checked out any kids things from the library at that time. I told the librarian that when I saw it on my card and she told me not to worry about it, but that thing is still listed on my card as overdue after all these years. I hope nobody comes banging my door down. I never even had the darn thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 Alright now I'm starting to freak out about a video that is charged to my library card that I never checked out. It was back in 1997 and somehow an Arthur video was charged to my card and my dd had only just been born and I had never yet checked out any kids things from the library at that time. I told the librarian that when I saw it on my card and she told me not to worry about it, but that thing is still listed on my card as overdue after all these years. I hope nobody comes banging my door down. I never even had the darn thing! I would speak to the director and ask what needs to be done to remove it from your account. In general, regarding other posts: From working at a local library, I know that there is a huge discount on books. Repaying a book at list price reimburses far more than the purchase price of a book. If you are told something is "according to policy," ask to speak to someone higher up to bypass that policy (e.g., the library keeping a record of something you did not check out; repaying a large, very old fine; replacing a book yourself instead of paying the library; working out a payment plan; percentage reduction of a library debt). My library would work with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 I didn't think it was legal to jail people for their debts anymore? Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 Heck.. if they jailed for overdue library books over here, I'd be inside for sure! Ditto *blush* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimm Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 Wow. That's enough to make me paranoid. I'm horrible about late books. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 I think it was about not showing up to court. Had she shown up, I doubt she would have been jailed specifically for owing money for the books. Okay, that I can understand. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah C. Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 I agree with other posters -- she was almost certainly jailed because she didn't show up to court, not because she failed to pay for the books. Not showing up to court is a fairly serious offense. My local library doesn't even charge overdue fees -- they simply freeze your account until you return or renew the books. And I believe pretty much all libraries have a library fine cap where they charge you a replacement fee instead of the book continuing to accrue fines. I've used libraries all my life with no major problems. I currently work at a college library where they don't enforce any of their rules (e.g. writing in books is DAMAGING the books, they say they will charge people for it but they don't). I'd rather deal with a library that does enforce their rules, even if it means I have to pay for a book I didn't damage. Of course, there are always the extreme, unreasonable cases, in which case I would avoid that particular library like the plague. But I think most libraries are quite reasonable... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanier.1765 Posted December 10, 2010 Author Share Posted December 10, 2010 My local library doesn't even charge overdue fees -- they simply freeze your account until you return or renew the books. Lucky! My library freezes AND charges overdue fines. I can't even request holds until I go in and take care of it. I think I get both short ends of the stick. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 Not only is our local library pathetic and contains not a single classical work of any kind because they are sooooo into twaddle there, but when the roads were closed for three days by the local sheriff because of a blizzard, they charged late fees on videos we rented even though they knew only emergency personnel were allowed out and I had called to let them know I'd come in as soon as the closure was lifted and we were plowed out. I returned the videos and when they tried to charge me for late fees, I made the head librarian sign a statement that I had returned the videos and that she understood that it had been impossible to turn them in on time due to the weather conditions and the date. I kept the paper and refused to pay the fines. We are now banned from checking out books there. Of course, we aren't missing anything by not utilizing their service. So, I have been on the receiving end of some pretty looney librarian behavior and I can understand the woman's angst at the beginning. If you've been burned out, the last thing you have time to think about is library books. But, the one thing that kind of stumps me is that if they were in her possession and in the home and she had homeowners insurance, then she should have been able to recover the value of the books and either forward that to the library or have them paid directly by the insurance company. She should have showed up in court....judges tend to get rather steamed about such antics. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 In general, regarding other posts: From working at a local library, I know that there is a huge discount on books. Repaying a book at list price reimburses far more than the purchase price of a book. I wondered about that, because not long ago I was charged for a book, and it was for the full retail price of the book, plus $10-$15 processing fee! I could have bought the book new on Amazon for $14, and they wanted to charge me about $30-$35 if I remember correctly. Luckily I found the book and they took the price of the book off of the account, but left the fee on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 Man, some of these libraries are so strict. It's almost as if they want to discourage people from using them. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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