Library Sends Cops to 5 Year-Old's House for Overdue Books
A mom in Massachusetts is upset that the police were called to her home because her daughter had a few overdue books which the local library wanted back.
Charlton Police Sergeant Dan Dowd went to the home of the little five-year-old girl and requested that the books, which were several months overdue, be returned. But even the police officers had reservations when he took the call.
“Nobody wanted to, on this end to get involved in it,” says Sgt. Dowd. “But the library contacted us, and the chief delegated, and apparently I was one of the low men on the totem pole,” according to the NY Daily News.
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The girl’s mother Shannon Benoit was also miffed that the police paid the family a visit. “I thought it was way overboard. I closed my door, I looked at my daughter and she started crying,” Benoit told CBS.
Library director Cheryl Hansen told the Worcester Telegram in a story which was published on Wednesday that the branch was not interested in the little girls overdue books. Hansen explained the library was looking for an audio book worth $100 which was checked out by Hailey's father.
"I'm getting email from all over the country. I've been called a f------ moron, an idiot, a Nazi, a communist," Hansen told the Worcester Telegram.
Hansen added that people with overdue materials are sent letters and then a bill when a borrowed item is more than a month late. The Benoit’s deny receiving any notices.
Hansen told the paper that the Benoit’s were one of 13 homes which received a visit from the police in an effort to retrieve $2,634 in overdue books and fines.
The town’s police chief, James Pervier, told the Worcester Telegram the library was being unfairly blamed.
“They tried everything to get those items back without being overzealous or punitive, but that's not what's being conveyed.”
