Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Handcuffed and charged for failing to return library books


Did you see this news story recently?

A Wisconsin woman has been arrested and booked for failing to pay her library fines. Heidi Dalibor, 20, told the News Graphic in Cedarburg, USA, she ignored the library's calls and letters as well as a notice to appear in court.
Still, she was surprised when officers with a warrant knocked on her door, cuffed her and took her to the police station to be fingerprinted and photographed.
Police Captain Joe Gabrish said officers follow the same procedure with every warrant.
Library director John Hanson said a couple of dozen people are cited each year for failure to return materials or pay fines.
The incident cost Dalibor about $30 for the overdue paperbacks White Oleander and Angels and Demons and her mother nearly $172 to get her out of custody.

4 comments:

Scarlett said...

Wow! Tough love! What do you think would happen if WE pressed charges against borrowers for overdue books and fines? I think we'd end up as an article in the ... Gazette! Oh no! Perhaps we could make a big poster of this article and hang it up in the library. Or better still, we could make it into flyers and hand it out when there are complaints about fines - you know, a "things could be worse" kind of message. What do you think? (Poor woman will nevre want to read again! - That library has certainly lost one customer, anyway).

Vicki said...

I was more mortified that people got to see what crap you were reading!

Alba said...

Can you post that article on Readers in the Mist?

Anonymous said...

I think this is great deterrent for not returning library books. It is drastic..... but these people have stolen our books, and should be treated no differently than other thiefs.