I would like to hear the woman's side of the story. Did she not receive the messages somehow or what? Anyway, theft is theft.

The book wasn't valuable enough to turn over to a collections agency, therefore she needs to be arrested? Does this mean that if the book were MORE valuable, she wouldn't be arrested?

That is FUCKED up.

Rather than posting the $250 bail, she could have paid the $14. Doesn't make sense economically. Unless she actually returned the book and the library lost it. I could see her trying to make a stand for that. Actually happened to me and the library kept hounding me for the book, racked up $25 in overdue fees. Then one day they called and went, "Oops, we found the book."

So she chose between jail, a 13.95 fine, and returning the book and she chose jail? I'm thinking she must not be the most rational person.

Wow, she should have just paid the darn fine.

Oh, and it's great to see the government hasn't stopped wasting resources. Four letters? One certified?!? I wonder what the total cost of this indiscretion will be (cost to produce/mail letters, persecute her, etc.).

@deadspork: Does she look like someone who just has $13.95 lying around...?

2 things, there's only 1 s in Jesup, and Jesup is about 15 minutes from where I live, the local media has turned this into a big joke. Welcome to Iowa!!!

The worst of it is that in all likelihood this will cost her more than just the 14.00. If it goes before a magistrate she'll likely get hit with the cost of the book AND the library's legal fees.

@mbz32190:
It said in the story that she refused to accept a certified letter.

I would say good for them, too many a-holes steal from the library because they don't care about fines. If the police get involved maybe they'll think twice.

Well, before jumping to conclusions, I'd like to know the "more to this story" part.

Some people who disagree with a book's message will "borrow" a library book indefinitely so that other people will be unable to see it on the shelves or check it out.

Perhaps it was a copy of "Mein Kampf" or maybe "Babywise, a book that advocates spanking infants. I wonder.

The Freedom Writer's Diary. uhhhHeh.

Idiots Out Walking Around

Campfire game: What's her sweatshirt say?
"Hi, ........"

It's really not that big of a joke, the library I work at has had two huge problems in the last few years. 1 we started to check out iPods to patrons. It only took about 1 month before nearly half of them walked out the door. 2 we started circulating Video Games. Same thing.
It's not a big joke when people are stealing thousands of dollars worth of materials and then not worrying because they're really not worried about their credit ratings and/or a collection agency.

There should be a threshold a library should stick to in order to say "Ok, this is worth calling the cops over" (i.e. $100 or more in fines) but $14 seems a little petty. of course it's already cost the woman $250 to even get bonded out of jail, so I'm sure she'll think twice before she takes a book from that library for any reason (if she's even still allowed in).
It says that there's more to this issue, it sounds like she has been habitually abusing the library and they finally had enough.

It states the cops also gave her an ultimatum when they arrived at her house and asked her to pay the $14. She refused and CHOSE to go to jail. I'm sure the state doesn't want to waste their time or money in this process as much as we hate to see it, but you can't blame them when the woman obviously made the choice herself to do so.

There are power hungry people out there in which I'm sure more than a few are in the police force. That doesn't mean that they all want to waste their time with some moron and arresting her for a late book. Don't be so quick to judge the "big bad" government or police force when they have to uphold stupid shit like this. It's her fault for wasting taxpayers money. They work for us and we pay them to do that job, and there's no preventing stupid.

Regardless if she didn't get the memo or phone calls or letters or anything, AGAIN, it says the cops also gave her the option to pay. She didn't. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200. Do not get pity. Go straight to jail.

@menty666:
In the absence of special circumstances, the US doesn't have a loser-pays system. It's possible that her agreement with the library puts their legal costs on her in these situations, but in absence of that (and the court enforcing it), it's unlikely she'd be stuck paying their legal fees. Court costs, like filing fees, are easier to recoup though.

I work for our University's library and if a patron doesn't bring back a book then they just put a hold on the person's account. This means no graduating or a transcript for transferring. This women was given multiple letters and even a visit from a police officer. She chose to go to jail over paying the fine. If people never bring back the books they borrow then the library would never have any to lend. Also, if the library pays to replace the book then that takes away money to acquire new books for circulation.

Some books are very expensive, our library has engineering books that come in sets worth thousands of dollars. The library has a very tight budget and cannot afford new books if the old ones keep having to be replaced.

My guess is that this has more to do with the undisclosed circumstances than the actual value of a book. Yeah, the book could be replaced for less cost than having the police go to her door to collect, but maybe the circumstances were that she borrowed the book, carved a swastika into the cover, set it on fire, and threw it at an orphan with cancer. I don't know what happened, but it's *definitely* not that failing to return a $14 book is theft.

@dddoistutter: She came up with $250.00 for bail.

@menty666: she already paid $250 in bail, don't forget

I agree the rest of the story sounds much more interesting then what we see here. Consumerist please follow up on this. Faced with pay the fine or go to jail I would pay even if I was being wronged. I have done just that to protect that fico over less then $25. Sometimes its eaiser to just bend over and take it unjustly. I bet she did not have the money or she says she returned the book allready. I can't picture anyone getting arested over $14 bucks unless its your broke or standing on principle.

@mbz32190:
My wife "lost" a library book in a similar manner. We returned it to the drop box in the front of the library. It was returned earlier than the due date. Apparently the book was stolen from the drop box somehow because we got a late notice, and another one, and a grouchy letter and another one and then they say that she can't use her library card because she lost the library book and owes them $20 (for a $5 book, even with library binding).

So now she's not paying the fine out of spite. She didn't lose the book, we don't have the book, it's not worth the replacement cost they want for it.

I love libraries but sometimes they do stupid things. Like pressing charges for $13.95. Take her to small claims court or something.

@WasabiJoe: Damn, Joe, I didn't see your post before I posted above. I wish they would call me like they called you. That's exactly what happened to me.

All that money, time and effort for a book that costs about the same as two large liquid candy bars at Starbucks? I should hope there is 'more to this issue than is coming to light at the present time', as stated in the article.

@mamalicious: Hooray for personal fascism!

I want to move to Iowa. If police have time to deal with a stolen library book then crime must way way down.

Here in Los Angeles it takes a shooting of 2 or more people to get a police response. Too many single shootings to deal with.

@WasabiJoe:

This is why I never drop books in the dropbox. I always take them up to the desk to have them checked in, unless I am instructed by the staff that I have to put the book in the box. I thought I was paranoid but apparently not.

What a moran...

@mamalicious: There have been a couple of cases near my neck of the woods where books that give teenagers information about sex and birth control have been permanently "borrowed" by local fundamentalists as a way to keep the books from circulating to teenagers. (Because teenagers learn about sex at the library.)

Now, I don't see what could be particularly offensive to someone's whacko beliefs about "The Freedom Writers Diary" based on its Amazon description, but you never know what presses someone's buttons.

That might be what the "more to this issue" refers to.

@davekoob:

Holy cow, another local!
I'm from Indee actually myself, even visiting the hometown when I saw this article lol

@1stMarDiv:What a moran...

"What a maroon."
B Bunny

@bxbrett:

Iowa's crime is very low, when there is a shooting or a murder; you've got over half the city's police force in your area then (Do they all know what their doing? No but the presence is there).

Funny to see my hometown mentioned on the Consumerist (Indee as we locals call it)

Theft is theft, so if she really did lose the book or won't return it, then yes she should be made to pay it. If I shoplifted at a store, they probably wouldn't hesitate to call the police. If the library established a threshold of money lost before going after them, they would have to weigh the deterrent factor. Sometimes it is worthwhile going after somebody even if you end up losing money, as to discourage others from thinking they can get over.

It is strange to me that she was more willing to go to jail and pay a bond then pay $1, if all she did was steal it or lose it. To me it seems she did it out of principal. Maybe she returned the book and the library lost it. Maybe she has had run ins with the library in the past and this time refused to capitulate.

It would be intersting to see how it all plays out.

@bxbrett: It's all stolen library books and meth labs. :)

@gyroball:

I never sign for any certified letters, think about it. In all your life have you ever gotten one with "Good News"?

It always goes back.

@Andrew Preston: It didn't get stolen from the drop box, it got lost in a pile in the back of the library, where they check in all the stuff from the box. Trust me, I used to work at one, sometimes we'd let that pile get built up for a few days before we checked in the stuff, and fines would accumulate, ect....oh, and, it could have been stolen by a librarian, clerk, or page, esp since it's not checked in, and very well near the door that they leave on the way out of work.

Jodi Foster has really let herself go....

What a shame.

If she wanted, she could petition the court for release. Holding her because she has an unpaid fine constitutes a debtor's prison which is illegal under the United States constitution. At least that's what the attorney that handled my last traffic ticket 5 years told me. Fines are a debt owed to the government as punishment for some type of offense.

She could be held in contempt of court, but even then I think there's limits to that.

@gyroball: Actually, if you look closely enough, you'll see she actually had the option of just paying the damn fine of $14.

She chose jail and $250 bail.

There are no words.

A $200 TV? Only in Iowa haha

@gyroball: Yeah, then I can't find that DVD, book or game that I want to check out at my library. Particularly annoying if they steal the first disc (or an in-between disc) of a multi disc set when referring to DVD's, so you don't get to see the whole thing. Our library has started sending fines over 25$ to the collection agency though as of just very recently, so hopefully this behavior will decrease.

If you do happen to lose something, pay the fine or replace the product, whatever they have you do. At least be honest about it.

The library relies on honesty pretty much (at least before they started sending fines to the collection agency). I always try to bring my stuff back as soon as possible so another person can get to use the materials.

As an honest patron to my library I have to agree, people who steal from the library or do not pay their fines should be punished for their act, the library is not a free for all and stealing is stealing no matter what is stolen from where.

I'm a bail bondsman. I've seen this happen a few times over the years. For all of you folks that say that there MUST be another side of the story here-You are right. Usually the other side of the story is one of sloth , indifference and a "what are they going to do,lock me up"? mentality. It always fascinates me that these kind of people will let this situation get to the point of absurdity and then expect sympathy from the press, people like some of the above posters, and ...Me. I always point out to these people that they could have gone on Amazon and bought the book for a hell of a lot less than they are paying me , plus the fine that they are gonna pay.For those childish posters that think that this is OK, well , she's stealing from you ,too.

Along the same lines, local vidoeo stores will take a warrant for people that "rent" movies that they have no intention to return.You should see their faces when the cops show up to take them to jail for stealing a copy of "Naughty Naked Nurses And The Horse They Rode In On"...

@Possinator: Yes, this was the case at all the university libraries I attended, if you borrow something from the library and don't bring it back then you don't get to graduate unless you make restitution on that by paying a fine. The libraries I went to also stamped the name of the university on the spine so that it was nearly impossible for you to stick the book on your shelf and forget that you got it from the library. Anything outstanding on your account even a small fine and you could not graduate. I have seen people who were held back from graduation because of this as well!

The libraries I went to carried a variety of materials for classes, special instruction videos and many other things besides just books. They had forensic science kits and special anthropology stuff that I can imagine was not easy and probably expensive to replace. Keeping these materials could potentially hinder an entire class from passing, and cause big problems for students who are trying to graduate on time.

I really can't believe this woman has a library card!

Brag: the NYC Public Library has an online renewal system, so if you're about to be overdue, you can go online and renew your materials. It ROCKS. You can see what's checked out, when it's due, etc.

Somehow, I racked up $7 in overdue fees anyway. It's okay. The money supports our awesome library. Check out the website: www.nycpl.org

And more than once, when I've gone to pay a fine, the library didn't have change for a $20, so they told me to pay "next time". I dunno, I thought that was pretty cool of them...

Eh, I want to know the rest of the story. I won't use our local libraries anymore because I constantly recieved letters accusing me of not returning books and charging me fees for books I returned on time.

@Xkeeper: That's what amazes me about this story. This isn't about "strong-armed police haul a woman off to jail for an overdue library book." It sounds, from the article, like the police officer was trying to resolve the situation - giving her the option of just paying off the dam $14, and she obstinantly (sp?) refused.

I'd like to say that the police should have more important things to do than this, but in fact they often spend most of their time resolving little conflicts like this without having to haul people off to jail, if they cooperate.

@dddoistutter: It sounds like this lady was being uncooperative. The library is in a tough situation here. Do they just let anyone who decides that they don't want to return a book, and instead ignore every attempt to resolve the situation, just let them keep it?

Last I checked, my taxes don't fund a free book bin.

@mbz32190: I'll venture a guess that she took it for reasons of censorship. According to the book's Wikipedia article, it's been banned at school districts due to its sexuality and use of racial slurs.

If I recall correctly, this happened in another district in the past year, with the patron keeping the book simply so they could act as the "content police".

The injustice in this compared to how rich men and corporations are coddled and protected when they steal makes me sick.

Theft is theft, and libraries lose a lot of books this way. Maybe this will help encourage people to return their books.