Overdue books are certainly a nuisance for librarians. But for one library in Charlton, Mass., they were grounds for a criminal inquiry. When two children's books were several months overdue, the library complained to the cops. After Sgt. Dan Dowd stopped by the home of Shannon Benoit, her 5-year-old daughter, who had borrowed the books, burst into tears and asked if she was going to jail. "Apparently, overdue library books are a misdemeanor," says Katherine Stone at Babble, "so get those overdue books in before it's too late!"
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