4 yr old brought to book

[Gob]

FREEPORT (KDKA) — The case of the four overdue library books and the little girl who borrowed them is closed, thanks in part to local police who were sent to investigate the case.

Four-year-old Katelyn Jageman’s books were due back to the Freeport Area Library on Oct. 19, 2011. Until Thursday, they were still in her possession. Library officials said after several attempts to retrieve the books, the case was turned over to police, who made a courtesy call to the child’s home.

“It’s a rare incident, but it does occur,” said Donna Michael, President of the Freeport Area Library Board.

After phone calls and letters to the family, Michael admitted she alerted authorities and put the problem in their hands.

“I did turn the file over to the police department,” she said.

The library receives no federal funding and relies on memberships, donations, and a secondhand shop to survive.

“We’re here to serve the community and we try to do it as best we can, and all we really want is to have our library materials returned,” said Michael.

At a rate of ten cents a day over a 204-day period, Katelyn owed the library $81.60.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/05/ ... -returned/

[dales]

Parents?

[The Hen]

Precisely.

She is too young to be considered responsible for her parents actions.

[Rick]

Parents?

I thought it was implied.

[BoSoxGal]

Breeders, not parents - given the values (or lack thereof) they are instilling in the child.

[Rick]

Breeders, not parents - given the values (or lack thereof) they are instilling in the child.

Now who's trolling BSG?

[BoSoxGal]

Excuse me?

How is it trolling to express my opinion that the story presented in the OP is about a child resulting from mindless parenting, or what I refer to as breeding?

[BoSoxGal]

keld, I do expect the courtesy of an explanation and/or apology for that comment; I've never engaged in anything remotely in the category of trolling and I'm deeply insulted by the accusation.

[rubato]

Failing to return library books has to be near the bottom of the list of personal faults for either parent or child.

yrs,
rubato

[BoSoxGal]

Really?

Because in cash strapped libraries like the one on whose board I serve (which doesn't charge late fees) it's considered theft.

This is a public resource, and other folks who can't afford to buy books like you can, rubato, rely on this public resource to access reading opportunities for their kids and themselves. When someone borrows books for 2-3 weeks and doesn't return them in 7 months, that limits the resources available to the community.

I don't think it's no big deal to take something that isn't yours to the detriment of others. I certainly think it's a very important value to instill in children, not to take what isn't theirs.

Obviously given the age of this child, those who bred her are at fault. But it IS a fault, IMNSHO.

[Guinevere]

I am unaware of libraries that issue cards to children of that age without a parent co-signer. While the card is for the child to get to know and learn about books and libraries, the liability for the books is the parent's responsibility. Yes, kids should be taught to return what they borrow -- but besides the fact that they are still learning and understanding the concept of borrowing, most four year olds I've known have not been great with dates or the concept of passing time either.

My library doesn't aggressively collect fines, and we have very limited authority to go after scoff-laws who take out books or DVDs and don't return them. I'm pretty sure we would never send out the police.

[Lord Jim]

Forgetting to return a four year-olds library books, (while not a good thing) certainly wouldn't make the top 100 on my list of things that would indicate "bad parenting".....

Maybe the parent's took the kid once to the library, and since the kid wasn't old enough to be going on a regular basis, totally forgot about the books, maybe a grandparent or other relative or family friend or baby sitter took the kid to the library and the parents didn't even know about the books. (They might not even have been in their home.)

Regardless, it's surprising to me that a librarian would think this was something to call the police about, and astonishing to me that the police would respond with anything other than, "Ma'am I'm sorry, but that's really not a police matter"...

That must be one very safe town...the crime rate must be practically zero if the cops have time to expend resources chasing down this sort of thing....

If it was really that big a deal, then it seems to me that it would have made more sense to go to small claims court than to waste the cop's time....

[rubato]

Really?

Because in cash strapped libraries like the one on whose board I serve (which doesn't charge late fees) it's considered theft.
... "

I love libraries and have used them a lot; It's still a lesser crime than hitting your sibling or playing with matches, IMO, but maybe a worse infraction than failing to put the toilet seat up (or down).

PS is it really 'theft' or 'conversion'?




yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

s'okay. When I worked at UCSC my personal vendetta was against vandalism especially graffiti. Followed by bicycle thefts. Few things gave me greater joy than catching graffitists in action and making them pay up for the damages.

Maybe if I worked at the local library I'd throw back all the graffitisti* I caught and pursue the over-due book fiends instead. Who knows?

yrs,
rubato

* I just made it up, like it?

[Scooter]

It doesn't qualify them for America's Most Wanted, but the parents got letters and phone calls. So while it might be understandable that they didn't make searching the house for the books and getting them back to the library their number one priority amid all of the other chaos of running a household, I don't think they can credibly claim ignorance. They chose not to bother with it. Perhaps calling the police was overkill. But turning the matter over to a collection agency or getting a civil judgment against them would have damaged the parents' credit rating, which at the end of the day would have done them more harm than a visit from a neighbourhood cop.

[Lord Jim]

But turning the matter over to a collection agency or getting a civil judgment

Maybe a letter and/or phone call saying that would be the next step would have done the trick....

[BoSoxGal]

The story indicates there were four overdue books - given the age of the child, they are likely picture books, which put the value at around $10-15 each, for a total of $40-60.

Given that the breeders were given several notices to return the items, is it then the general consensus that the library should have just lumped it?

Should the police tell all victims of theft under a certain amount of $ to just take their lumps?

[Guinevere]

But turning the matter over to a collection agency or getting a civil judgment

Maybe a letter and/or phone call saying that would be the next step would have done the trick....

Yes, but do you really think that will work without the ability to back-up the threat? Our fines are $0.10/day for books, $1.00/day for video materials, but we are capped at no more than $20. It costs $200 to file a complaint in District Court, and with overworked Town Counsel trying to do a million other things on a shoestring, it doesn't make that a likely scenario. It is a question of resources. Ultimately, we will suspend library privileges for the serious violators, but our ability to do that is also really limited because as a public library we are required to provide free access to everyone and anyone. The only good thing is that we're constantly updating our collection, so maybe the book will be replaced, maybe it will not be replaced but something better will come along.

(and BTW, in MA, those fines collected do not go back to the Library, but to the Town's general fund, so they aren't going to pay to replace the book anyway).

[Scooter]

Perhaps if enough violators were taken to court, and sued for not just the fines but also for costs, others would be put on notice that they had best return their books.

[BoSoxGal]

I'd only add that if the town of Freeport values the library highly enough to get police support in collecting overdue books, I think that's great.

Community police officers go to our schools to teach kids bike safety and stranger danger; why not be involved in teaching them the importance of returning borrowed items?

For the naysayers who don't consider this serious: If you rent a car for three weeks and still haven't returned it seven months later, should the cops shrug it off as a civil matter?