Library Sends Cops To 5-Year-Old's House For Overdue Books (VIDEO)

A five-year-old girl from Charlton, Mass. burst into tears after a local library sent Police Sergeant Dan Dowd to her house to retrieve the child's two overdue library books, CBS Boston reported.

"I thought it was way overboard," the girl's mother, Shannon Benoit, said. "I closed my door, I looked at my daughter and she started crying." According to the report, Shannon's daughter thought Dowd was going to arrest her.

Sergeant Dowd told the station that, although long-overdue books are a misdemeanor, he didn't want to go to the girl's house.

"Nobody wanted to, on this end to get involved in it," Sgt. Dowd told CBS Boston. "But the library contacted us, and the chief delegated, and apparently I was one of the low men on the totem pole."

The Benoit's books had been overdue for "several months," but were quickly found and returned at the police officer's request.

It turns out the little girl's fears of being arrested weren't completely unfounded.

Back in September, Christopher Anspach was sentenced to 10 days in jail for failing to return his overdue library books after several months and multiple overdue notices.

"After several attempts had been made to contact Anspach by phone and certified mail with no luck, Newton Library contacted the Newton City Attorney and Newton Police Dept," a complaint obtained by The Smoking Gun stated.

In a more extreme case of book borrowing delinquency, an Australian library exercised leniency after a first-edition copy of Charles Darwin's "Insectivorous Plants" was returned 122 years late.

Camden Council Library Services Manager Kathryn Baget-Juleff estimated the overdue fee would be around $37,000 today, after accounting for inflation.

UPDATE:10:22am -- An article published today by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette clarifies that it wasn't 5-year-old Hailey's children's books that warranted the police visit, but a $100 audio book that her father had borrowed, and that had been overdue since April. According to the article, 13 other families in the area were also visited by police, who collectively had in their possession a total of $2,634 in overdue library materials.

Comments

[Geoff Jay]

10:38 PM on 01/08/2012

I think a little research is necessary here; the police were NOT sent for a little girl's books, but rather for a $100 audiobook that the father had kept since 2009 (read details here: http://www.telegram.com/article/20120104/NEWS/101049937/0/NEWS03). I think it's ridiculous that the parents are trying to sensationalize this rather than taking personal responsibility for keeping an expensive public library item out for years on end (which is basically the same as stealing it).

[kareemachan]

04:41 PM on 01/07/2012

Well, must be a helluva town that the police don't have anything better to do.

[robertstone1robert]

08:57 PM on 01/05/2012

He is probably the chief. Perhaps he should've executed a search warrant and handcuffed the little girl and thrown her in prison. This must be one county with a lot of money on its hands.

[Amndamay]

04:36 PM on 01/05/2012

So... the PUBLIC library called upon the PUBILC'S police force and turned it loose on the PUBLIC in order to retrieve PUBLIC OWNED material... and the PUBLIC paid for all of it. Gotta love this system.....

[still a minor]

04:35 PM on 01/05/2012

if the police were there for the father they should have put that in the beginning and in the title of this article. im sorry but this is just not acceptable. i mean confusing the public? how slow can you be?

[Ava Johnson]

08:13 PM on 01/05/2012

The reason why they did that is to make you think that the police is going to get small children who don't turn in books, then you find out that the father was the one who did it. They want to sensationalize it to make you read it.

[dvaiano5150]

04:19 PM on 01/05/2012

after 90 days I just think the families of overdue books should be billed for the book and dues. This why we should close down libraries they have gone over and beyond and it is pitiful when other people get away with bigger debts.

[erinbliss]

04:25 PM on 01/05/2012

So we should punish good patrons by closing down the library to punish bad patrons? Yeah, that makes a great deal of sense.

[dvaiano5150]

11:04 PM on 01/05/2012

Yes, I think schools should be the ones to have libraries for the students. I don't want to throw away my tax dollars on libraries of today ( Years ago it was much different)

[ggolds5]

04:13 PM on 01/05/2012

I would think that just sending a bill after a certain amount of time to cover said borrowed materials might be more effective and appropriate. Then collections. OR even a library employee who calls and threatens collections. The cop at the door is a bit silly but then again is this mothers over reaction to her poor crying daughter. I'm surprised she isn't suing as I write this.

[erinbliss]

04:27 PM on 01/05/2012

This article is deceiving. The end tells it all. They were really after the father and made the subject the child in order to elicit sympathy for people who borrow and don't return books/other goodies from their local library. I think they should give them 90 days and send them out for collection.

[ajax2]

03:32 PM on 01/05/2012

Ask the police to retrieve your luggage that the airline has not returned.

[erinbliss]

04:28 PM on 01/05/2012

Good luck with that. The airlines are selling your stuff in Alabama.

[LGFuller07]

03:20 PM on 01/05/2012

They should be ashamed of themselves for scaring that little girl like that. I understand that the books needed to be returned but to send an officer out to the child's home is not only absurd it's also a waste of tax payer money. I think the police dept should fine the library for wasting that officers time.

[erinbliss]

04:29 PM on 01/05/2012

Read the article to the end. It was the father they were after. The article just tried to make it look like it was the child. And seriously, a five year old can't drive so how would she be responsible for getting books back to the library? Great lesson those parents are teaching their kids!

[LGFuller07]

03:24 PM on 01/06/2012

Good point, I got so caught up in the nonsense of the article that I totally missed that. I still think it's a silly waste of resources and very harsh for an overdue book.

[Dragonfly440]

02:27 PM on 01/05/2012

Not surprised at all HuffPost.... this is so typically what passes for "JOURNALISM" today!! And I find it so odd that there were people suggesting that the library hold a 5 year old responsible!! Gee, is she allowed to drive already? or take the bus or even walk to the library in question? I've many local area library cards and have had them in numerous towns over my 63 years, never once was I permitted to obtain library card without an ID and the ability to 'sign my own name"!!! This entire story is a non-story. This is simply an example of the most ridiculous sensationalism! This is a parent's responsibility, not that of a 5 yr old!

However, if you view the video story, you will see clearly that the parents wanted the publicity, and the HuffPost clearly senstionalized the story to gain readership.

In small towns this is common practice, and the parents should have simply said "Thank you" to the officer, and promptly returned their overdue materials, instead they obviously used their daughter for self gain and called the media upon themselves.

This is the LAST HuffPost story that I will waste time reading.

[the prof]

03:52 PM on 01/05/2012

Holy cow. I think you need to calm down.

[Amndamay]

04:34 PM on 01/05/2012

Dragonfly might need to calm down, but is completely correct. Just sayin.

[Cindy Tregan]

04:11 PM on 01/05/2012

Buh-bye. Don't let the door hit ya.... and all that.

[ugotabkidnme]

02:08 PM on 01/05/2012

Not returning an item which was borrowed pursuant to an agreement that it will be returned in a reasonable condition in which it was loaned, is a fundamental breach of contract and is theft. If you disagree with that, call me; I'd like to borrow your car but I promise I will return it.

[circas]

01:52 PM on 01/05/2012

Police?? Having worked in a library, there is a much more effective way of getting the attention of a patron who has overdue books or large fines. It is called the collection agency!. You would be suprised how fast items are returned, which is the most important thing.

[ugotabkidnme]

02:30 PM on 01/05/2012

How much did the collection agency charge the public taxpayer for collecting public own library materials? The police department is paid for, there are no extra costs to the taxpayers.

[erinbliss]

04:32 PM on 01/05/2012

Not to mention the ding it puts on their credit rating when it goes out for collection!

[michaelg0612b]

01:49 PM on 01/05/2012

I'm so glad that they live ina town where there is so little crime that they have the time to chase down late library books. The world is a much safer place now.

[ugotabkidnme]

02:33 PM on 01/05/2012

Technically, the man is subject to a petty theft complaint and being in possession of stolen public property, which are violations of state criminal law statutes.

[Roger Funk]

01:22 PM on 01/05/2012

I didnt like the updated comment. Was all getting upset over a child when it was her father who brought the police there.

[Hans Wurst]

11:29 AM on 01/05/2012

If you get burglarized or have your car stolen, the police has no time or resources to look into it.

[ugotabkidnme]

02:35 PM on 01/05/2012

In this matter, there was no question as to who had the public property, ergo no real time or resources expended in an investigation. Get over it.