If you have been searching for a way to make Valentine’s Day extra special for your sweetie, I have just the evening for you. On February 13th and 14th the Humboldt Area Arts Council is offering You Know the Old Slaying, a murder-mystery dinner. The cast is local, many encore performers from last summer’s The Odd Couple. The venue is Rustix. In case of inclement weather, you won’t even need to leave town. Your evening will begin at 5pm with a social hour, followed by dinner at 6pm. Rustix is providing a special, upscale dinner. The performance will begin at 7pm. Tickets are $30 per person. Seating is limited to just 75 each night, so don’t put it off ‘til the last minute. Tickets are available @your library!

Many of you will have read about the Jessup Library recently. They had a patron who failed to return a library book. Shocking, isn’t it? What’s more, she refused to pay the $14.58 book replacement cost. My, my. That would never happen here! The lady was arrested for theft and held at the county jail until she could post bail. The library community is beside itself. One faction states that this is such bad publicity for all libraries. The other side argues that the Iowa Code states that failure to return library materials is theft. Plain and simple. She is an accused thief and should be treated as such.

If a large grocery store chain filed charges again someone who took $14.58 worth of merchandise, would the other grocers protest? “You’ve created bad publicity; now, all grocers look mean. “ What if a driver filled her gas tank with $14.58 worth at a convenience store and left without paying? Would we think it were unreasonable for the store to call 911?

Of course, not. Both cases are well accepted instances of theft. Failure to return a library book is also theft. It’s an even more serious form of theft. If one steals from a grocery or convenience store, the stores’ owners may raise prices to compensate for the loss. What can the library do? Our materials are available for public use at no cost. There is no price to raise. Free is free.

When a person steals from the public library, we all lose. That book or dvd is unavailable to all others who had wished to read or view it. If the library chooses to replace the item, it does so by NOT buying another title. Give the poor Jessup librarians a break. They are just trying to be wise custodians of public funds.