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Mani
09-07-2014, 10:01 PM
I used to joke about this a couple years after joining RPF. Then one day I realized it's not going to be a joke, one day it will happen.


Here it is folks: Going to jail over library books:

http://fox6now.com/2014/05/19/overdue-and-under-arrest-woman-gets-jail-time-for-library-books/

SHAWANO (WITI) — Usually if you have an overdue library book — you’ll get a fine. But one Wisconsin woman got jail time!

30-year-old Tabitha Oost of Shawano won’t soon forget her recent visit to Green Bay.

Last month, the married mother of two crashed her car on Mason Street. She was rushed to the hospital.

“The air bags went off. I ended up having damage to my scalp, my forehead and my left eye,” Oost said.

While at the hospital, Oost saw a doctor — and a Green Bay police officer.

“I was still bleeding from my head. I was still on the stretcher when an officer came in to check if I was okay, how I was doing,” Oost said.

The doctor had good news. She would be released.

The police officer had some bad news.

“He told me that I had a warrant for my arrest for Shawano County due to overdue library books,” Oost said.

Back in 2011, Oost had checked out a bunch of items from the Shawano library — and never returned them.

Oost says she forgot about it — but officials in Shawano didn’t!

When Oost was picked up in Green Bay, there were two warrants for her arrest. As soon as Oost was released from the hospital, the officer took her to the Brown County jail.

“I thought he was joking, honestly. I couldn’t believe it. I ended up laughing. The officer was laughing and then told me he was actually serious,” Oost said.

Police in Shawano aren’t laughing.

“If you fail to return items, you must be held accountable,” Shawano Police Captain Jeff Heffernon said.

According to court records, in October 2011, Oost and her daughter checked out several kids books, including “Giant Octopus to the Rescue” and “Freddie and Flossie.”

A few months later, Oost went back to the library and checked out more items, including some DVDs such as “Mary Poppins.”

Total value of the 21 items checked out: $499.

The items were never returned.

Oost says she never received anything from the library about the overdue materials. But the library director says that’s not likely.

“I do hear that explanation at times. I think it’s a very minimal possibility,” Kristie Hauer said.

Hauer says the library always contacts people with overdue books, multiple times.

Court records show in Oost’s case, the library sent her at least two emails and mailed her three separate letters before forwarding the case to Shawano police.

“We’re trying to work with people and it’s kind of a last resort,” Hauer said.

Hauer says if an item worth more than $25 is not returned and the person never responds to the library’s repeat letters, the matter is sent to the police.

And it happens more than you might think!

Since 2011, the Shawano library has forwarded 140 cases to police. Hauer says many of those cases are for hundreds, even thousands of dollars.

“I think for us it’s a way for us to be good holders of the taxpayer money that gets allocated to the library every year and to try to keep our collections in a good condition and in good shape for everyone to use. Most of the time if we’re not able to have much feedback from a patron, it takes one quick contact by the police department and a patron responds pretty quickly,” Hauer said.

But that’s not what happened in this case.

Shawano police say in April of last year, an officer met with Oost to tell her that she had to return the items, pay for them or she’d get a ticket.

A week later, when the items weren’t returned or paid for, police issued Oost two tickets for $177 each.

Those tickets came with a mandatory appearance in municipal court.

Court records show several notices were mailed to Oost’s apartment.

She claims she never got them because she had moved.

When Oost didn’t show up for two court hearings, the judge issued a warrant for her arrest. That’s how she ended up in jail.

Oost only ended up spending about 10 minutes at the jail. Her friend came right away and paid the $354 to bail her out.

But she’s not out of the woods yet.

That money was only to pay for her two tickets.

Oost still owes the library $499.

That means after all that’s happened, the library still doesn’t have its materials back or the money to replace them.

Danke
09-07-2014, 10:08 PM
Stop all taxpayer funding of libraries, simple solution.

VIDEODROME
09-07-2014, 10:18 PM
Why would the Library allow her to take out even more items on a return trip when she is already late? Is this an intentional way to let this escalate so that use of the Police can be more justified?

Suzanimal
09-07-2014, 10:22 PM
Why would the Library allow her to take out even more items on a return trip when she is already late?

That's what struck me, our library only lets you get in the hole $5 before they freeze your library card.:o

aGameOfThrones
09-07-2014, 10:40 PM
is she a thief?







Back in 2011, Oost had checked out a bunch of items from the Shawano library — and never returned them.

Oost says she forgot about it — but officials in Shawano didn’t!


According to court records, in October 2011, Oost and her daughter checked out several kids books, including “Giant Octopus to the Rescue” and “Freddie and Flossie.”

A few months later, Oost went back to the library and checked out more items, including some DVDs such as “Mary Poppins.”

Total value of the 21 items checked out: $499.

The items were never returned.

Oost says she never received anything from the library about the overdue materials. But the library director says that’s not likely.

“I do hear that explanation at times. I think it’s a very minimal possibility,” Kristie Hauer said.

Hauer says the library always contacts people with overdue books, multiple times.

Court records show in Oost’s case, the library sent her at least two emails and mailed her three separate letters before forwarding the case to Shawano police.

“We’re trying to work with people and it’s kind of a last resort,” Hauer said.

Hauer says if an item worth more than $25 is not returned and the person never responds to the library’s repeat letters, the matter is sent to the police.



Shawano police say in April of last year, an officer met with Oost to tell her that she had to return the items, pay for them or she’d get a ticket.

A week later, when the items weren’t returned or paid for, police issued Oost two tickets for $177 each.

Those tickets came with a mandatory appearance in municipal court.

Court records show several notices were mailed to Oost’s apartment.

She claims she never got them because she had moved.

When Oost didn’t show up for two court hearings, the judge issued a warrant for her arrest. That’s how she ended up in jail.


Oost only ended up spending about 10 minutes at the jail. Her friend came right away and paid the $354 to bail her out.

Mani
09-08-2014, 02:02 AM
Apparently this is not a unique thing:


Oh man....Rented a book to help him get his GED...Goes to jail for 3 years...Gets a warrant for not returning book..Goes to jail for outstanding warrant.

http://www.businessinsider.com/texas-man-library-book-arrest-2013-12

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Call it throwing the book at the bookworms.

A Texas man who was arrested for failing to return an overdue library book ignited an online flurry of snarky comments and headlines about the Lone Star State extending its tough-on-crime bravado to books. But such cases aren't unheard of, and many communities faced with shrinking budgets and rising costs have ordinances calling for fines or even arrest warrants when library property isn't returned.

In Texas alone, the issue has cost libraries an estimated $18 million.

Jory Enck learned that the hard way. He was arrested for not returning a GED study guide that he checked out three years ago in the Central Texas community of Copperas Cove. Enck declined comment to The Associated Press, but he told the Killeen Daily Herald that he wouldn't set foot in a library again: "I think I will probably just purchase a book from Amazon."

A Texas state law took effect in September that defines the failure to return library books as theft. The law, which doesn't trump stricter community ordinances, mandates up to a $100 fine per offense.

Other states also call for fines or even arrest warrants in such cases, including Iowa — where an overdue-book offender was jailed for a week — Vermont and Maine.

In Copperas Cove, about 70 miles northwest of Austin, a 2002 ordinance mandates a $200 fine for each library item that goes unreturned 20 days after a written notice is sent demanding its return. If the fine isn't paid, the municipal court issues a warrant, city spokesman Kevin Keller said. Keller said he didn't know how many people had been jailed on library-related offenses.

"I was a police officer for 12 years, and while it wasn't a regular daily thing, we had maybe a couple of these a year," he said, adding that he didn't know why Enck's arrest in October got so much attention.

In that case, police were called to the 22-year-old's apartment on an unrelated disturbance charge, but officers arrested him after finding a past warrant for the study guide. Enck was released on a $200 bond, requested time-served — and returned the book. He said he couldn't do it earlier because he checked it out before beginning a three-year prison term for robbery.

Being jailed for absconding with library materials "is an uncommon occurrence, but can happen once in a while," said Mark Gould of the Chicago-based American Library Association. But he said there was no accurate count on how many states and communities issue arrest warrants.

It's an issue that has cost libraries a lot of money. Nearly 150 libraries in Texas participated in a survey earlier this year that found 966,000 items were checked out long enough to be considered lost, with the total cost exceeding $18.2 million, said Gloria Meraz, a spokeswoman for the Texas Library Association.

Among the most notable library-related arrests came in 2011, when a man from Newton, Iowa, served more than a week in jail for failing to return 11 library books and six CDs worth $770. Iowa law classifies failure to return library materials as theft, and the town has a 1993 ordinance, said Sue Padilla, director of the Newton library.

Padilla said she saw a spike in returned overdue materials after the arrest.

"We did notice that some things that had been out for quite a while did suddenly come back," she said.

The library hasn't been back to court since that case, she said. She said going to court was a last resort, but that "we try to be good stewards of those things that were purchased with taxpayer funds."

Other notable cases include police visiting the home of a 5-year-old in Charlton, Mass., last year to collect overdue books. Also last year, police in Freeport, Pa., called the home of a 4-year-old whose family had racked up more than $80 in overdue fines for four books.

Back in Texas, two women in Baytown were arrested following traffic stops in 2006 and 2010, after police discovered they had outstanding warrants for unreturned library books.

Indiana-based Unique Management Services is a collection agency that works with more than 1,600 libraries nationwide to recover overdue materials and administer fines and fees. During sluggish economic times, libraries became more anxious than ever to recover unreturned books, said Kenes Bowling, the agency's customer development manager.

"They feel the budgetary pressure, no doubt," Bowling said. "But what we've seen over the years is that, no matter what the library does, there's still a percentage of folks who need third party encouragement."

That includes a woman whose excuse for unreturned books ranks as Bowling's favorite: He said she claimed the leg on her dining room table had broken "and the stack of books under it were just right."

Mani
09-08-2014, 02:22 AM
That's what struck me, our library only lets you get in the hole $5 before they freeze your library card.:o

Ya...WTH. If you already have a book overdue..Why is the library handing out more and more books and DVDs!?!



I remember I rented a couple books as a Freshman at the University library. I returned them after only a couple days, but put them in the WRONG BIN. Instead of the official return bin, I put them in the bin where they just put the books back where they belong...I was a Freshman and didn't realize how it worked, I saw kids returning books in there, figured it was fine. Until at the end of the year I got a letter saying I'm not getting my grades until I returned the books and paid some fine. I was shocked...I called and complained but they said the books are MISSING..they can't find them, and I was the last to check them out. I told them repeatedly I put them in a return bin...but they said no one can find it in 2 months...I finally showed up to the library and within 3 minutes I walked over to the book shelf and surprise surprise, found the books sitting on the shelf exactly where they belonged. But because I didn't place them it in the official return bin, they still showed they were checked out 2 months ago.

I tried to fight with them that the books were sitting on the shelf all along. But...because they never got beeped in the official return bin..I had no choice but to pay the fine.

That was one of my first experiences in hating bureaucracy. Not only were the books in the library all along, they were sitting perfectly in the fucking dewy decimal system order and not a fuck cared or noticed.

oyarde
09-08-2014, 09:57 AM
Stop all taxpayer funding of libraries, simple solution.
Pretty much .Way I see it , I have pd enough taxes that any book I want at the library belongs to me :).That said , I rarely use the place .Too ghoulish for me.Why would an ordinary step into a place funded by theft and protected by police ?Good Lord.

jbauer
09-08-2014, 10:07 AM
So did she "steal" the books or not? If what was said in the article was true, that she had several warnings including an officer visit....what else should an entity do?

Of course this could fixed by just not having a library. But in my mind she is likely guilty of theft.

oyarde
09-08-2014, 10:11 AM
As a small child I was afraid there may be library police , so I never checked books out , I just walked out with them. When I was done I took them back .

Suzanimal
09-08-2014, 10:17 AM
As a small child I was afraid there may be library police , so I never checked books out , I just walked out with them. When I was done I took them back .

They have the theft detectors at the door now, you have to hand the books to the librarian, walk through the detector and pick up your books on the other side.

oyarde
09-08-2014, 10:25 AM
They have the theft detectors at the door now, you have to hand the books to the librarian, walk through the detector and pick up your books on the other side.

I figured as much. Maybe this is why kids cannot read these days :) . Guys I grew up with would have turned around and left when they saw one of those things, probably would have thought it was some kind of Buck Rogers trap .

Suzanimal
09-08-2014, 10:42 AM
I figured as much. Maybe this is why kids cannot read these days :) . Guys I grew up with would have turned around and left when they saw one of those things, probably would have thought it was some kind of Buck Rogers trap .

:D
I met Gil Gerard and Erin Gray at Dragon Con. Damn, he's old and to think, I was gonna marry him.:)

CaptUSA
09-08-2014, 10:47 AM
Who the hell still uses libraries?!

tod evans
09-08-2014, 11:04 AM
Will the library SWAT teams have coke-bottle glasses and pocket protectors when they assault the scofflaws?

Anti Federalist
09-08-2014, 11:08 AM
Three Felonies a Day.

This is what happens when the surveillance state has immediate and complete access to your computerized dang'an.

Look for this to increase and get worse each passing year.

Enjoy your Brave New World.

Suzanimal
09-08-2014, 11:11 AM
Who the hell still uses libraries?!

me :o


Will the library SWAT teams have coke-bottle glasses and pocket protectors when they assault the scofflaws?

Nah, mean old ladies and they're scary.:eek: