There’s a crazy story from Sunday’s Leader-Telegram about a woman in Boyceville who didn’t return some library books (about homemade crafts) for two years, got a notice to appear in court, returned the books but didn’t show up for the court date, and then three months later, got arrested in front of her kids and taken to jail. Then she had to pay $150 in bail money to get out. From the article:

• "I was just getting ready to give the kids (ages 1, 7, 11 and a nephew, 16) supper when I heard the dogs barking and saw two police cars and two officers," Edwards said, referring to Dunn County deputies.
• "They said they had a warrant, and I asked them if they were serious and explained to them that it was about a library book," she said. "They had no sense of humor and didn't care. They handcuffed me with the kids looking out the window. What a memory for them."
• Edwards went through the standard booking process before her husband bailed her out that night.

The return of the books and the $150 bail probably means that this short, ridiculous saga is over. But I wonder what’s going on over in Boyceville because, according to the article, this isn’t the first time such a thing has happened.

I’m kind of torn over who to make snide remarks about – the woman or the police/library. On one hand, the lady had more than enough time to return those books. Way more than enough time. And lots of pestering letters to boot. On the other hand, that’s a lot of resources to waste on something like this. And the fact that it's happened before makes me think there’s some persnickety small town librarian behind it all, though persnickety small town librarians probably only exist in my (television-fueled) imagination.

At any rate, if you live in Boyceville, get them books back on time. Or within a year, at least.