Throwing The Book At Book Thieves – Texas Style

Poor Jory Enck! He borrowed a GED study guide in 2010. He got it at the Central Texas community of Copperas Cove located about 70 miles northwest of Austin.

In September 2013, a new law came into effect that defines the failure to return library books as thef, which is a felony. The new law makes sense; non-returning of library books drains recourses. In Texas alone, the libraries loose an estimated $18 million in “lost” books (around 1 million items). Since many communities have to deal with shrinking budgets and rising costs, they are looking for ways to have their library items returned in time.

The Texas procedure is as follows. Any library item that is not returned within 20 days carries a fine of $200. If this fine is not paid in time, a warrant will be issued by the municipal court for theft.

That’s what happened to Mr. Enck. The police went to his address due to a reported disturbance. Once they arrived, they arrested based on a previous warrant for theft of the study guide. He was promptly arrested for theft since he failed to return his overdue library book.

Mr. Enck was released on a $200 bond, and returned the book in question to library. He also turned to the media to state that he wouldn't set foot in a library again.

He also said: "I think I will probably just purchase a book from Amazon."

Mr. Eck forgot to mention that he had not been able to return the guide earlier since he had to serve a three-year prison sentence for robbery.

Texas is not the only state cracking down on people like Mr. Enck. Iowa jails this kind of offenders for one week. A man from Newton (Iowa) served jail time of more than a week for not returning six CDs and eleven library books with a total worth of a whopping $770. Vermont and Maine are also cracking down people that don’t return their library items.

The Enck incident is for now an oddity. However, it could happen far more frequently in the (near) future, especially since after such an arrest, long overdue library items are suddenly returned.

So what do you think? Are libraries (and the government) correct to crack down on people like Jory Enck to preserve their assets?

Paperless Library Coming to You Soon!

Let’s face it – in the era of paperless and e-books, it was only a matter of time before a library to go bookless.

San Antonio Bexar County will be the first to open its doors to the first bookless public library. There will be plenty of books – just not the tangible ones, but e-books.

The library will open its doors in Fall 2013. Readers will be able to roam the 4,989 square-foot space. This library is the brainchild of Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, who claims that he got the brainwave after reading Walter  Issacson's Steve Jobs biography.

The library will not feature the traditional aisles of books, but instead will boast aisles of computers and gadgets. At the start, the library will facilitate 100 e-readers for circulation and to take out, According to the library, it will also have 50 e-readers for children, 50 computer stations, 25 laptops and 25 tablets on site.

"We all know the world is changing. I am an avid book reader. I read hardcover books; I have a collection of 1,000 first editions. Books are important to me," stated Wolff . "But the world is changing and this is the best, most effective way to brin g services to our community."

Library visitors will be able to take out books on any of the devices in the library. They will be able to take out any of the 50 e-readers for a period of time. They will also be able to bring their own e-readers to the library for loading books onto their own devices. The library will also be partnering with e-book providers or distributors to provide access to over 10,000 titles.

However, the provider(s) of equipment, including e-readers, has not been decided yet.

Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are known to offer services on their respective e-readers which work at libraries.

However, the library will not be completely paperless. As Wolff stated: "the only thing I believe we will charge for, is if you want to print out something. We will charge for the copies you would want to print out."

What do you think – is this a great development? Or, like me, would you miss leafing through (hard copy) books? Please let me know!