Steal This Book?
<p>This is what made <em>Seinfeld — </em>the show about nothing —brilliant. It could turn an every day situation into comic gold. In the 1990s, when library budgets were tight and being slashed, aggressive <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/26/nyregion/26library.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">collection tactics</a> were common. Many libraries brought those with outstanding fines or debts to small claims court; libraries hired collection agencies to recoup fines; some garnished tax refunds; and others put possible criminal sanctions in notifications to scare customers straight, including “imprisonment of up to six months.” As an executive director of a library on Long Island <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/24/nyregion/libraries-track-overdue-materials-even-with-collection-agencies.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">said</a> at the time, “We’re not interested in the goodwill of deadbeats.”</p>
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