Library Throws Book at Woman in Norwood-July 27, 1984

The Morrill Memorial Library took an unprecedented step in local municipal enforcement when library officials pursued legal action against a local resident over unreturned property. Susan Andrews, 25, of 83 Hillview St., became the very first person ever arrested in the town of Norwood for the failure to return overdue books, according to Carl Himmelsbach, director of the Morrill Memorial Library. This person had more than enough opportunity to return the material, Carl Himmelsbach stated during an interview, noting that she had received every warning a borrower could possibly imagine regarding the outstanding items.

Library administration estimated that the institution has initiated formal court proceedings against approximately one hundred delinquent borrowers over the preceding four years, but that those individuals invariably settled their accounts upon the initial mention of legal intervention. On July 19, police formally arrested Susan Andrews on a criminal charge of detention of library books, after which she was transported to the Norwood police station and subsequently released on her own recognizance, according to police spokesman Patrolman Paul Bishop.

In contrast to the official police and library accounts, Susan Andrews denied that officers placed her under physical arrest, asserting instead that she was merely notified of an active warrant. I have a 5-year-old child, she remarked, adding that she would have raised a significant protest had law enforcement attempted an actual physical detention. Carl Himmelsbach emphasized that the library resorts to legal measures exclusively after borrowers ignore months of repeated past-due notices, lamenting that the general public frequently operates under the misconception that public library systems possess no legal recourse to recover missing assets. Because the books constitute public property, failure to return them legally amounts to larceny, he explained.

Although Carl Himmelsbach declined to disclose the precise volume count, specific titles, or total monetary value of the materials checked out by Susan Andrews, the patron acknowledged during a telephone interview that she had four hardcover books overdue in her possession, though she professed inability to recall their names. To contextualize the financial impact, Carl Himmelsbach noted that the average retail price for a hardcover book stood at sixteen dollars for fiction, twenty dollars for nonfiction, and twelve dollars for children’s literature. Suffice it to say the value of the material is sufficient to cause us to go to court, he remarked.

Following the police visit to her residence, Susan Andrews maintained that she deposited the disputed volumes into the library’s nighttime depository box, and she initially claimed she skipped her scheduled appearance at Dedham District Court on the preceding Friday. However, Carl Himmelsbach countered that Susan Andrews did indeed appear for arraignment at Dedham District Court, where she allegedly informed the court clerk and probation officer that she had already surrendered the books and secured an official receipt. Carl Himmelsbach branded that assertion an outright lie to the probation officer and to the clerk of court, calling the claim ludicrous and insisting that no such transaction occurred. Carl Himmelsbach subsequently notified probation authorities that the library had recovered neither the books nor issued any receipt, ensuring the legal case remained active and scheduling a mandatory court appearance for August 23.

Addressing the broader institutional challenge of collection management, Carl Himmelsbach observed that conventional overdue penalties in Norwood—set at five cents per day up to a maximum fine of one dollar—remained far too insignificant to serve as an effective deterrent against book retention and theft. He pointed out alternative models used elsewhere, noting that a Dallas library levies fifty-dollar fines, while a Toronto library reports delinquent names to the Central Credit Agency, thereby obstructing individuals from securing bank loans, home mortgages, or credit cards. The Morrill Memorial Library, originally established in 1898, houses a circulating collection of 80,000 volumes. Before the installation of an electronic security system five years prior, Carl Himmelsbach recalled that approximately twenty thousand dollars worth of books vanished from the building annually, whereas modern electronic alarms now successfully deter unauthorized removals.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger