I don't know whether to laugh or wince at this one, since it is, after all, the state I grew up in. These are also the people who wanted to prosecute Michael Moore for influencing voters by handing out 3-packs of underwear to bribe slackerboys to vote. This tidbit of absurdity is from Moira Allen's Writing World newsletter.
Librarians want jail time for overdue book offenders
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Bay City, Michigan Library System Director Frederick Paffhausen is asking the county library board for permission to seek arrest warrants for offenders who ignore overdue notices. According to Paffhausen, one patron owes $1,190 for 73 items overdue for more than a year and patrons keep an average of $25,000 in overdue materials out of the system each year. Librarians want the worst offenders to face charges and up to 90 days behind bars. The board plans to consider the idea.
On the other hand, $1200 is a lot of overdueness. And nothing is more annoying than waiting for a book and having some jerk hang onto it. I say this having been an offender myself, which is why I don't borrow books from the library anymore. I can't even get the DVDs back to the rental store on time. Netflicks was made for idiots like me. But at least I have the courtesy not to borrow books and I've virtually given up on the DVDs for now.
Garnishing overdue offenders' wages might be smarter, though. Hardly anything makes people move it like losing money from their paycheck, even threat of jail, and it'd be way cheaper in the long run. I wouldn't particularly want my tax dollars spent on prosecuting petty crime like this. The courts have enough to do.
It also, I have to say, smacks a bit of Big Brother. Jail time for overdue books? It's like getting caned in Singapore for spitting out your gum on the sidewalk. Somewhat draconian, especially considering the state of most jails. Can you imagine that first conversation with your cellmate? It'd be like something out of Alice's Restaurant. Not to mention how humiliated the cops would be for busting you, unless you got some self-righteous Javert type. Just imagine: Book cops. Seems to me this would have a kind of chilling effect on using the library, which is the last thing anybody wants, except the FBI, who'd like to know what you're reading. Now there's some incentive to get your books back on time.
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