North Adams Library Cracking Down on Overdue Book Scofflaws
 The library trustees had an update on efforts to recover missing thousands of dollars in overdue books. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The public library is cracking down on scofflaws who owe hundreds of dollars in fines for not returning books for years.
It's resulted in the arrest of one patron.
Library Director Mindy Hackner said she has been going after overdue bills from patrons who have not returned materials. The focus has been on ongoing bills from 2013, some of which are upwards of $600.
After notifying the person by sending the overdue notice, then emails, phone calls, and letters, legal action takes place.
Hackner told the library trustees on Monday that a former patron who ignored her communication attempts and failed to appear in court was arrested recently. She has since met with the person and settled the matter.
Hackner said that to her surprise, the materials had been returned at some point between when she checked to make sure they were still missing before taking legal action and when the individual met with her.
"I don't know who took their books in, but they didn't report to me and they didn't take any paperwork," she said. "It dropped through the system and there was no notification from the court."
Some trustees suspected that the individual placed some of the materials back on the library shelves and left without checking them in.
Hackner said she apologized to the individual and wiped away the fine but made it known that the materials had been overdue since 2013 and it should have never gotten to this point.
The library in the past has had a lot of luck recovering materials, she said, and always offers to work with individuals who have not returned what they borrowed. She added that it is sometimes difficult working through the courts because the courts look for identification such as a Social Security number and the library is unable to record this.
Trustee Donald Pecor said lost and stolen material does add up over time.
"People ask if we are really taking people to court over books and they don't understand they don't have one book out, they have thousands and thousands of dollars in material," Pecor said.
The trustees decided to hold an amnesty week sometime before school starts.
Tags: fines, public library,
