By M. Scott Carter
The Moore American
October 09, 2008 08:06 am
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For the record: I am a fan of public libraries.
A huge fan.
I’ll support their millage campaigns.
I’ll protect them from calls to ban books and the Sally Kerns of the world.
I’ll help fund their summer reading and literacy programs.
I’ll march for them when they are under attack.
Yep, call me a fan.
But right now, this fan is disappointed.
And it all has to do with overdue books.
Last week, officials with the Pioneer Library System announced they would turn over the accounts of “long overdue” customers to a collection agency which specializes in collection of library fines.
Library officials said the move was necessary because they’re holding the bag for more than $1.4 million in fines which have accumulated since 1992.
They also said that, by turning the defunct accounts over to a collection agency, they are being good stewards of public funds.
They said that several thousand customers have “long overdue” accounts.
So, they announced they would turn the accounts over to a firm who will (as most collection agencies do) strong arm people until they pay the debt.
If they don’t, the debt will go on the customer’s credit report and haunt them for years.
Bad idea.
Oh, I understand Pioneer’s plight, believe me.
But I disagree.
I don’t think a person’s credit report should suffer and I don’t believe customers should face collection agency personnel because of library fines.
It’s just wrong.
We’re not talking a mortgage here.
This isn’t an issue of a car payment or a failed credit card.
This is about library books.
Libraries are refuges.
They are citadels of thought and reason.
They are islands of knowledge surrounded by seas of indecision, chicanery and idiocy. And they are under attack today more than they have ever been in their history.
Collection agencies?
Credit report listings?
Harassing telephone calls?
I believe libraries should reach out to those same customers they are bailing on — those who are poor, those who are considered “dead beats” those who others have written off.
As a former library employee and a prolific library user, I, too, have had my share of overdue books. I’ve lost books, found them, returned them and, once in a while, paid for them.
I’ve paid enough library fines at both the Metropolitan Library System and in Pioneer’s to help build a new branch.
And I would be furious if I’d been turned over to a collection agency.
With the country’s economy in the tank, the sub-prime mortgage scandal growing daily and banks shutting down right and left, more and more library customers are going to be feeling the economic pinch.
And you can rest assured that good library customers, will on occasion, stumble.
Now, instead of dealing with the librarians, you’ll have to deal with a collection agency.
And collection agencies — whose reputations rank just above those of politicians — are not known for their legal tactics.
Can Pioneer be sure these agencies will follow Fair Credit guidelines?
Can Pioneer be sure these agencies won’t make Harassing telephone calls?
I don’t think so.
Once the account is out of their hands — and I’m concerned, too, about violating a person’s right to privacy by turning over information about the books they’ve checked out to a third party without a subpoena — they have no control.
In short, it’s a bad idea.
And it needs to be rethought.
Or, at least, Pioneer administrators need to vet the proposal at a series of public hearings.
Like I said, I love libraries.
And that includes the Pioneer System, but on this occasion, they’re wrong and they need to reconsider.
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