From The Austin American-Statesman:
In a given month, nearly 500,000 items churn through the Austin Public Library System’s 21 libraries — books, music CDs, movies and magazines that are lent to users with a promise to return them by their due dates.
But an American-Statesman/KVUE News joint review shows that $1.1 million in taxpayer-purchased inventory has been checked out over the past five years but hasn’t been returned.
Patrons owe an additional $861,571 in fines from 2008 through 2012 for items that were returned after their due dates.
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Eva Poole, president of the Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association, said Austin’s losses “seem to be right on par.”
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Meanwhile, the library has no formal system for replacing lost or stolen items. This year, for instance, the library allotted $2.8 million of its $26 million budget to purchase new books, CDs and other inventory, and officials said their top priority is replacing popular and classic works.
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