Patron Receives Jail Sentence for Overdue Books

-- Library Journal, 04/07/2006

Brooke Marie Peckman received a one-year jail term after pleading guilty to failing to return $792 worth of overdue items (books, tapes, and CDs) to the Davis County Library, UT. "This is the first case that has gone this far," library director Pete Giacoma told the AP, saying that normally the threat of incarceration generally is enough to spur the return of overdue materials. At the time of Peckman's arrest, the 23-year-old woman didn't have the library goods—Peckman told authorities she had lost all the items—but was in possession of a controlled substance for which she received an additional sentence of zero to five years.