Florida: “To Save Books, Librarians Create Fake ‘Reader’ to Check Out Titles”

UPDATED Jan 5, 2016 We’ve updated this post with a local tv report that’s embedded at the bottom of this post. Includes comments from a Lake County, FL official.
From The Orlando Sentinel

Chuck Finley appears to be a voracious reader, having checked out 2,361 books at the East Lake County Library in a nine-month period this year.
But Finley didn’t read a single one of the books, ranging from “Cannery Row” by John Steinbeck to a kids book called “Why Do My Ears Pop?” by Ann Fullick. That’s because Finley isn’t real.
The fictional character was concocted by two employees at the library, complete with a false address and drivers license number.
After allegations by an unidentified person made in November, an investigation by the Lake County clerk of courts’ inspector general’s office concluded that Finley was a fake, and the county has since requested a systemwide audit of its libraries.
The goal behind the creation of “Chuck Finley” was to make sure certain books stayed on the shelves — books that aren’t used for a long period can be discarded and removed from the library system.

Read the Complete Article
Update: From WFTV in Orlando (Jan. 5, 2017)

See Also: Text Report From WFTV

Filed under: Libraries, News