


In 2011, a man in Newtown, Iowa served a little over a week in jail for failing to return 6 CDs and 11 library books, resulting in over $770 in overdue fines. In Freeport, PA, police called the parents of a 4 year old who racked up more than $80 in overdue fines for just four books! In Charlton, MA, police visited the home of a 5 year old to collect his overdue books. When the police offer saw that these women had a warrant for outstanding library fines, he had no choice but to arrest them. Other known cases of this include two women in Baytown, Texas who were arrested in 20 when they were stopped for traffic violation related reasons. Some states have arrested or jailed individuals for the same reason. After a certain amount of days, an overdue book can be considered stolen and you could be fined not only the usual overdue fees, but for theft as well. Although many people are thinking these incidences are ridiculous and unheard of, many cities are raising the cost of overdue fines to compensate for shrinking budgets. Since this incident, there have been many comments online about Texas extending its tough-on-crime policies to books. Eventually, he was released on $200 bail, requested time served and returned the book. His fine went all the way up to $10,800! His reason for not returning the book? He was arrested for robbery and spent three years in jail preventing him from going home and returning the book himself. After 20 days, a warrant is made to the person borrowing the overdue book and they are fined $200 every twenty days that it is not returned. In Copperas Cove, Texas, a man named Jory Enck was recently jailed for failing to return an overdue GED study guide from three years ago! Since 2002, the city library has had a strict rule when it comes to overdue books. Sometimes, however, certain events in life can get in the way of returning a library item on time.
DOES TENNESSEE ARREST FOR OVERDUE LIBRARY BOOKS FREE
For the most part, libraries are a free service that many local residents enjoy, yet sometimes, overdue library books can result in fines, warrants or even jail time! People usually return a book before it’s overdue to prevent increasing fines.
