By Joshua Cole
LITTLETON — The library policy of arresting people with long overdue books that led to the investigation and eventual firing of a longstanding municipal judge was officially changed at Littleton City Council, July 20.
Further, Bemis Library plans to start a 90-day trial period with a collections agency with the hopes that the collections agency can track people who have moved and can save staff from spending time sending summons and filing paperwork.
With the policy change, a delinquent borrower won’t have a warrant out for his or her arrest; instead, if an item isn’t returned, a note would go on a person’s credit record. Before, somebody who had borrowed items and never returned them was given a summons to appear in court. If the borrower failed to appear – even if the borrower never received the summons – a warrant could be issued.
Judge James Kimmel, who had served Littleton for more than 30 years, was fired by Council, April 6, following an investigation that started when a teenager was arrested and his car impounded when he didn’t return a $30 DVD he said he had accidentally packed when he moved. The teenager didn’t receive a summons for court because he moved, the library didn’t have his forwarded address, and his failure to appear led to the warrant for his arrest. The investigation found that Kimmel had issued 71 warrants – including but not limited to the library items – that hadn’t had “proper service,” according to Council.
The story was picked up by news organizations and blogs across the country, embarrassing the city. Littleton was used as an example of how desperate cities have been to get money, especially during the recession.
That wasn’t the intention, according to Bemis Library officials. The intention is to keep materials in the library system so people have things to read, watch or listen to, especially as more publishers and distributors are printing fewer items and making it harder to replace.
From 2007-2009, the library lost nearly $20,000 of items. In 2009, library staff spent more time making phone calls regarding long overdue items, which led to a significant decrease in the number of summons sent out – only 107 compared with 179 in 2007. But the library still increased the total cost of lost items – $6,864 in 2009, compared with $6,577 in 2007 and $6,539 in 2008.
Summons for court appearances had been sent after items were more than 60 days overdue. Letters and bills were sent if items were 15 and 30 days overdue, and phone calls were made after 30 days. The shelves were checked and rechecked multiple times in this process as well. If the library uses a collections agency, the agency would come in after 60 days for accounts that have $40 worth of unreturned items, replacing the summons process.
The amount of time that library staff had been spending on collecting long overdue items has also been a strain amidst an increase in library use and possible upcoming staff cuts due to the budget, according to a library report.
The collections agency that the library plans to try out, Unique Management Systems, is the only collections agency that specializes in libraries. Plus, the company also is the collection agency for Arapahoe, Aurora and Douglas County library districts. If the library does accept using the collections agency after the 90-day trial, the library would have to pay about $3,200 to install software and annual maintenance costs, which start at $1,800 and go up 7 percent each year, according to a memo.
The summons process was first put in place in 1986. Before then, library staff typed and mailed bills when items were 30 days overdue. The library lost $9,000 to $11,000 per year, “the cost of doing business,” according to a library memo. In 1986, Council passed an ordinance to make it a municipal offense. Police officers handed out summons whenever they had a chance, which could be months. This delay caused a problem in 1996 when a woman received a summons months after it was originally issued and months after she had returned the items and cleared her account. Summons were then issued by certified letter, with a return receipt. In 2003 library staff made personal phone calls before issuing summons, which reduced the number of summons issued, all according to a library memo.
Medical marijuana law complies with state law
Also at the July 20 meeting, Littleton’s City Council unanimously passed on second reading an ordinance that would deter all non-retail medical marijuana centers in the city and changes the language of its initial medical marijuana law to comply with state law.
The law still deters grow houses and limits the number of retail centers – formerly called “dispensaries” – in Littleton to four. New to the law is prohibition against residential-based businesses concerning medical marijuana and against places that manufacture marijuana-infused products.
Councilman Jim Taylor, who had voted against the ordinance on first reading, was absent on July 20.
