“I was so angry. I was sad and mad,” Kaylee Morgan told NBC News about the ordeal from a March 2023 book checkout from the Navasota Public Library in Grimes County, Texas. “The whole week leading up to court, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to laugh or cry.”
While I agree there should be some kind of penalty for late/no returns, once the fine equals the cost of replacing the book, just go buy another one and cap it off?
ReplyDeleteLibrarys are a public service paid for with tax dollars, not a punative opportunity for the county to profit.
They just see as as a revenue source to be milked at every opportunity.
Texas?!!
ReplyDeleteAnd here I thought the only things they took seriously down there was football and barbecue.
-lg
Firearms, Ig. We take our firearms seriously.
DeleteMy library stopped charging overdue fines during Covid. They haven't reinstated them.
ReplyDeleteNemo
It's a government agency. Of course there are stupidly large fees.
ReplyDeleteMy library also stopped fines. When they did have fines, fines could only be up to the value of the book.
ReplyDeleteJust another case of "I did it but here's a bunch of reasons not to hold me guilty".
ReplyDeleteI lived one place where they would turn you over to a collection agency for an over due book..
ReplyDeleteTypical small town scam, like a speed trap. It would be interesting to know what other scams they are working.
ReplyDeleteJpaul
My wife is a bookworm. Like...to the point where every wall in my house has a book case crammed full with books. I've probably lost ~500 square feet of living space due to all the fucking book cases...anyways, she thinks my kids need to spend at least 50% of their day reading books...so she was always taking them to the local library to check out new books. I told her that was a *BAD* idea because the local library is a government-run operation...she thought it was weird and ignored me....eventually I put my foot down and told her to just order books from Amazon if we really needed them. Well...look who was right about staying far, far away from government services...because there's nothing you can do when government decides to abuse you. You either STFU and take it, or start shooting. Neither one's a good option.
ReplyDeleteCould you imagine the hilarity that would ensue if *you* went to court and asked them to place a lien on someone's property or issue a warrant for a book that cost $15 to buy?
Self centered bitch didn't care that someone else needed that book while she was hoarding it
ReplyDelete