Posted on 01/20/2023 6:20:36 AM PST by Red Badger
Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A British library said a patron will not be charged late fees of approximately $52,400 after returning a book that was 58 years overdue.
David Hickman, 76, said he checked out a book called The Law for Motorists from the Dudley Library in 1964, when he was preparing to go to court to defend himself against a minor traffic charge.
Hickman said the book proved to not be very useful in the case, and he ended up paying a minor fine for driving without due care and attention.
The man said the book came with him when he moved to London in 1970.
"I used to come across it now and then and think 'I must pop that back next time I'm in Dudley,'" Hickman told the Express & Star newspaper. "I even considered posting it anonymously, but then I decided I would face the music and take it back in person."
Librarians said they decided to waive the overdue fee of about 25-cents per day, saving him from a fine of about $52,400.
Dudley librarian Sharon Whitehouse said the book might soon have a new home at the Black Country Museum.
The Toowoomba Grammar School in Queensland, Australia, said a book returned to its library in December 2022 was even more overdue -- about 120 years.
The school said the copy of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens was returned by a man whose grandfather had checked the tome out in 1903.
I guess librarians and reporters don’t do math. 25 cents per day for 58 years is roughly $5300.
Most California libraries have done away with late book fines, thus essentially given people the OK to “steal” the books.
The reason?
“The burden of administrative fines and fees can create financial strain for low-income families and can contribute to a cycle of economic hardship. Recent actions statewide have brought to light the concept that administrative fees can have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable individuals, particularly youth, non-citizens, and people of color.”
Another wonderful way by leftists to teach people about personal responsibility.
https://lacountylibrary.org/fine-free/
The public libraries I have been a member of during my book borrowing days (Curse you, “great deals at Amazon!”), have normally limited the maximum fine to the replacement price of the book.
If the book is badly overdue, it might be a better strategy, from a cost standpoint, to just simply inform the library that the book was lost/has gone missing/etc. and offer to pay for it.
Returning to the book in question, it was borrowed in 1964, the library system, at some later point (now long past), has written in the book off as a normal operating loss. In fact, if the library is publically supported, the borrower has already indirectly paid for the book through their local taxes.
I understand that there is an integrity issue involved in returning the book. From a practical standpoint, what exact point/lesson/example is demonstrated in returning a badly outdated 1964 (or earlier) book on English motor vehicle law and possibly subjecting oneself to massive fines?
Some public libraries have eliminated fines.
.
One of the greatest speeches ever....
“So you think I’m a loser?.....”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VokieHWDsHs
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