Biblio Bites (Mini-Sode #2) - The Grey Lady is a Liar and Library Fines Can Send You to Jail

Welcome to an episode of Biblio Bites, a new feature of the Forgotten Library. These will be mini episodes wherein I talk a little bit about something important that’s going on in the library world. I started this with news regarding the MacMillan ebook issue and there have been two large news stories this week.

We’ll begin in Michigan with a woman who is possibly facing jail time because of library fines.

Melinda Sanders-Jones is a resident of Charlotte, Michigan. In 2017, she checked out two books from the library, “Night” by Elie Weisel and “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein. She neglected to return the books, but she was going through some personal stuff at the time; according to news reports, she was a victim of domestic violence and had to change her address and telephone number.

Fast forward to earlier this year, when Sanders-Jones went to Charlotte Library to use a computer and was told she could not, due to the very overdue books. She went home and searched the house, found the books on her son’s bookshelf, and returned them to the library. She assumed there was a hefty fine attached to a collection agency, as she never received any notification of library dues owed.

However, what brought this to a head (and the media’s attention) is the fact that Sanders-Jones has a warrant out for her arrest, a fact that was brought to her attention by her boss. The 27 year old single parent was up for a promotion at her job, and they conducted a background check, which showed the warrant. The charge is listed as “misdemeanor failure to return rental property,” and carries a fine of up to $500 or 93 days in jail.

According to Marlena Arras, who is the director of financial services for the Charlotte Community Library, told the press that Jones is “not telling the full story,” but refuses to comment further.

The procedure at this library system is to notify patrons after materials are overdue one week, two weeks, one month, three months, and finally four months overdue; if there is no response, the fines are turned over to the county’s Economic CRIMES Unit. A direct quote from Arras says that the property is considered “stolen” at that point. She also said, however, that the fines are not submitted to this crimes unit unless the value of the property is over $50.

So, a few comments. Firstly, this whole situation is absolutely RIDICULOUS. Jail time for library fines? Even more fines FOR your fines? If you want to make sure someone never uses your library system again, this is a fantastic way to go about it.

Two, she returned the books. Yes, they were two years late and probably taken out of the library catalog by that point, but then you can’t still have a warrant for “failure to return,” because she did so.

This Arras woman and her comment about “not the full story?” At this point, I don’t care what the story was. If you think she was lying, she stated she was undergoing a custody case during this time period and had changed her address with the court; this is probably why she never received notices, but also, this is REALLY easy to check and verify.

I know that libraries on average tend to pay more for materials than patrons do on their own, but are those two books REALLY over fifty dollars? They weren’t rare and are very easy to replace. So, if they aren’t over fifty bucks, they fucked up and should never have submitted this case.

And I still just can’t believe this economic crimes unit is that concerned with library fines. I looked it up to see if this has made news previously, and it must be something with Michigan; in 2016, the Durrens made news after they had a warrant issued for THEIR arrest stemming from their failure to return a Dr. Seuss book two years prior. They had a $55 late charge and were unable to pay at the time, so they were turned over to the prosecutor’s office and their Economic Crimes Unit. They received a letter that stated they need to pay the original $55 plus a $105 diversion fee, or receive criminal charges. They paid the original fee, but didn’t feel the $105 was legal, although the Prosecutor’s office said it was; by the way, the library’s policy did not state that you could be turned over to the authorities for unpaid fines. They eventually had to pay the $105 plus another $100 bond each.

The Durrens avoided jail, but Megan Owens-Jorden of Rogers, Arkansas did not. She checked out one print book and two audiobooks from the library and hadn’t returned them. She moved and might not have received the 4 letters sent to her house about the overdue items. She was arrested in 2015 on suspicion of theft of rental property. The trail goes cold there, so I don’t know if she served any time., but she did have a $3k bond.

These policies are punitive and adding fines on top of fines get people into a hole from which they can’t escape. Now, I’m sure my lovely listeners would NEVER lose a library book. But check your library’s policies to see what happens if you DO rack up fines and cannot pay them.

{overkill}

And now, Florida Man. Or men.

Citrus County, Florida, is a relatively small county in the state. Despite their small size, their library system wants to do right by its patrons, and provide digital news subscriptions like others do. They wanted a subscription to the New York Times, which costs a little less than $3k a year, but allows any library-card holder to login and read the Grey Lady.

However, the Citrus County Commissioners literally laughed at the library’s request. One particular asshat by the name of Scott Carnahan, decried the Times as “fake news.” Direct quote: I agree with President Trump. I will not be voting for this. I don’t want the New York Times in this county.

This discussion was apparently the same day that Trump wanted to cancel the federal subscriptions to the Times and WaPo, but this appears to just be a coincidence, as the Citrus County meeting happened before any news came out about Trump’s plans.

What’s bad about this is that the BOCC is supposed to be nonpartisan. A subscription to the New York Times is a way for the library system to give all patrons equal access to news; it’s apparent that these commissioners don’t understand this, as they said anyone who really wanted to read the “fake news” could get their own subscription. It’s also apparent that they should use a dictionary and look up the word “irony,” as later in the meeting they declared October “Friends of the Library Month.”

According to the Citrus County Chronicle, two commissioners who did not voice their opinion during the meeting later said that their worry was an agreement for the Times would open the door for more “radical publications.” By the way, none of the dudes who opened their fat mouths during the meeting, the ones who said NYT was fake news, have ever actually read the newspaper.

The library does get a print subscription to the NYT, but you would have to go to the library to read it, and it’s also only the Sunday edition. The digital subscription would enable them to provide services to more patrons. So, of course, there has been a huge backlash against these commissioners (who, I feel like it might be overkill to mention, are a bunch of white dudes). Some are backpedaling now, and one claims that he was just trying to save taxpayer money (this is the guy who is on RECORD by saying that it’s fake news and THAT was why he was voting no. How stupid are these people?)

There’s also another idiot, State Rep. Anthony Sabatini, who congratulated them and tweeted that Lake County should do the same. This jerkoff had photos of him in blackface come out earlier this year, so he really should just shut up.

The ALA issued a public statement this week decrying this decision, and I guess we’ll see what happens.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Book Bites. Please like and subscribe, or tell a friend! Next episode we’ll return to the Dollanganger family with If There Be Thorns.

As always, thanks for listening.

Sources: [to be added]