Book Borrowers Owe San Jose $6.8 Million In Outstanding Library Fines
SAN JOSE (CBS/AP) -- The city of San Jose's library system is facing $6.8 million in unpaid fines across its 23 branches.
That figure is roughly five times the amount of unpaid fines logged a few years ago in Chicago, a city nearly three times San Jose's population.
It also exceeds unpaid fines at public libraries in Oakland, which has $3 million in outstanding fines, and San Francisco, which stands at $4.6 million, the newspaper reported.
Officials are now talking about reducing fines, which are higher than in other Bay Area library systems, or giving people amnesty on their fines.
When Chicago's Public Library system held an amnesty program in 2012 it retrieved 101,301 overdue items, valued at approximately $2 million. More than 40,000 patrons also got their library cards reinstituted.
© Copyright 2016 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
