Posted on 12/22/2016 5:48:47 PM PST by nickcarraway
Rockville library books due in 1973 and 1974 were found years after parents' deaths, so their son paid the estimated $1,552 fine.
Library books checked out in 1973 and 1974 were found by the adult children of a couple who had lived in Rockville decades ago. At 5 cents a day, the overdue fine for the two books would be a whopping $1,552 — which the family paid to make things right.
Montgomery County Public Libraries’ Director Parker Hamilton said the rare donation sent to the library system in a letter will benefit many users. "People do not have to fess up, but they're fessing up. I think it's for the love of library," she said.
The check will allow the library to "buy many, many new books for the residents of Montgomery County," Hamilton told Montgomery Community Media.
Hamilton said the two books were found by family members clearing out some of their parents' things; they had forgotten to return the books.
People understand that libraries are shared collections, she says, which gives them value.
Thursday's Best Holiday Deals: Last Day For Two-Day Shipping Take advantage of some great deals while you can still get them in time for Christmas with two-day shipping. Jon Kramer, who now lives in Minnesota, said the titles that his now-deceased parents forgot to return are 365 Meatless Main Dishes and The New Way of the Wilderness. While his parented died years ago, Kramer and his siblings only recently began to go through some of their belongings at the family’s homestead in Canada.
He wrote to the library of his find, and enclosed the check to make amends.
"We apologize for that oversight and hereby endeavor to correct the wrong by paying the accumulated late fees," Kramer said, according to Bethesda Magazine. "The matter now arises as to the eventual disposition of these titles. We had considered returning them to the library from which they originated, albeit a bit overdue. However, these books have become imbedded in the family lore and have acquired heirloom status as a result. We, as stewards of our own history, have therefore determined the books are best left in residence on the shelves which they happily occupy at present."
Kramer also hoped the FBI wouldn't be called in to investigate the international incident; Hamilton says that the family can hold on to the keepsakes
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Sweet! Two-day shipping!
The money from the fine will be used to buy subscriptions to National Geographic, Time, New York Times, and Washington Post for the next 40 years.
Good for them. Nice thing to do. Glad they have means to make such a generous “donation.”
Now, donning my Grinch hat, the current fine rate is 35 cents per day and he didn’t pay interest. The true past due amount is probably closer to $4k.
Nno usually the fine stops at the cost of the book. Also books that old would not usually be left in the library collection.
No statute of limitations on overdue library books?
No wonder the current crop of librarians is so arrogant and uppity.
What next? PLD (Public Library Docent) SWAT teams?
Yeah ‘71, that was my first year on the job. Bad year for libraries. Bad year for America. Hippies burning library cards, Abby Hoffman telling everybody to steal books....
$1500 gets you 7 days of NYT for about 3 years.
Re: The money from the fine will be used to buy subscriptions to National Geographic, Time, New York Times, and Washington Post for the next 40 years.
Probably DVDs of the latest movies. I use my library a lot. I’m not sure what the actual stats are, but when I am checking out or returning books I am often the only one checking out and returning books. Most of the patrons I see only have library cards so that they can get free movies.
Tropic of Cancer? Or was it Tropic of Capricorn?
I have relatives that work for libraries.
There is obvious no “fine”. They would have written off the book decades ago. If they still had the book, it would have been discarded back in 1980 because it would have been worn out.
Libraries seriously dont cherish most books that much.
Occasionally, I'll forget to renew a book or DVD. When that happens, the library (Clark Co. NV) locks you out of any further withdrawal until the fine is paid (25c a day).
I'll go in and pay my 50c or whatever, only to see some Hispanic kid come in with a half dozen overdue DVDs and the librarian says "Oh, we'll forgive you this time". From the looks of the titles (grown ups), it looks like the parents send the kids in so the fines will be forgiven.
A small thing perhaps, but it cheeses me off.
365 Meatless Main Dishes by William I. Kaufman (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974) is even harder to find. In California, it is available in the San Francisco Public Library and a few academic libraries.
I’m not sure why you are locked out of further withdrawals with a simple overdue item. I always have a running tab and am not locked out until I have $10 in fines. But if you have an overdue item from the north Las Vegas library branch they are more anal about overdue items. Do you renew your books, etc online?
JERRY: Oh, I’m glad you’re here, so we can get this all straightened out. Would you like a cup of tea?
BOOKMAN: You got any coffee?
JERRY: Coffee?
BOOKMAN: Yeah. Coffee.
JERRY: No, I don’t drink coffee.
BOOKMAN: Yeah, you don’t drink coffee? How about instant coffee?
JERRY: No, I don’t have—
BOOKMAN: You don’t have any instant coffee?
JERRY: Well, I don’t normally—
BOOKMAN: Who doesn’t have instant coffee?
JERRY: I don’t.
BOOKMAN: You buy a jar of Folger’s Crystals, you put it in the cupboard, you forget about it. Then later on when you need it, it’s there. It lasts forever. It’s freeze-dried. Freeze-dried Crystals.
JERRY: Really? I’ll have to remember that.
BOOKMAN: You took this book out in 1971.
JERRY: Yes, and I returned it in 1971.
BOOKMAN: Yeah, ‘71. That was my first year on the job. Bad year for libraries. Bad year for America. Hippies burning library cards, Abby Hoffman telling everybody to steal books. I don’t judge a man by the length of his hair or the kind of music he listens to. Rock was never my bag. But you put on a pair of shoes when you walk into the New York Public Library, fella.
JERRY: Look, Mr. Bookman. I—I returned that book. I remember it very specifically.
BOOKMAN: You’re a comedian, you make people laugh.
JERRY: I try.
BOOKMAN: You think this is all a big joke, don’t you?
JERRY: No, I don’t.
BOOKMAN: I saw you on T.V. once; I remembered your name—from my list. I looked it up. Sure enough, it checked out. You think because you’re a celebrity that somehow the law doesn’t apply to you, that you’re above the law?
JERRY: Certainly not!
BOOKMAN: Well, let me tell you something, funny boy. Y’know that little stamp, the one that says “New York Public Library”? Well that may not mean anything to you, but that means a lot to me. One whole hell of a lot. Sure, go ahead, laugh if you want to. I’ve seen your type before: Flashy, making the scene, flaunting convention. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. What’s this guy making such a big stink about old library books? Well, let me give you a hint, junior. Maybe we can live without libraries, people like you and me. Maybe. Sure, we’re too old to change the world, but what about that kid, sitting down, opening a book, right now, in a branch at the local library and finding drawings of pee-pees and wee-wees on the “Cat in the Hat” and the “Five Chinese Brothers”? Doesn’t HE deserve better? Look. If you think this is about overdue fines and missing books, you’d better think again. This is about that kid’s right to read a book without getting his mind warped! Or: maybe that turns you on, Seinfeld; maybe that’s how y’get your kicks. You and your good-time buddies. Well I got a flash for ya, joy-boy: Party time is over. Y’got seven days, Seinfeld. That is one week!
I went to get a new library card a couple of years ago and got hit with a $12 fee on a video I dumped a few days late into the overnight drop box back in 1996.
Yeah, yeah, bake a pie, eat a pie.
Do you renew your books, etc online?
I do use the online renewal but those two slipped through the cracks.
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