[Publib] We don't shush anymore; we destroy your credit.

[Joe Schallan]

"Claude DaCorsi, a management consultant
in Portland, Ore., used to pride himself
on his near-perfect credit rating. But
during a recent routine credit check, he
discovered his credit scores had plunged
to 'below average.'

"The reason: Two late library books,
including a picture book taken out for
his two-year-old son. The library had
turned over the $40 late fee to a private
collection agency.

"Mr. DaCorsi, who says the black mark
affected his interest rate on a home
loan, has since barred his children from
visiting the library. 'We go to Barnes & 
Noble now,' he says. 'We can get books
there without fear of retribution.' "

-- Excerpted from "A New Threat To Your
Credit Rating--Unpaid Parking Tickets,
Library Fees Start to Hurt Consumer
Credit as Strapped Cities Seek Payment,"
by Jane Spencer, Wall Street Journal 
(Eastern ed.), Jan. 3, 2006, p. D1.

[ . . . and one wonders what Mr. 
DaCorsi thinks Barnes & Noble would
do if he tried to stick them with
a $40 balance due . . . ]

When Mr. Da Corsi obtained his library
card, he promised to take care of
the books he checked out, not lose
them, return them on time so others
can use them, and pay fines
according to the library's fee
schedule. It is clear that in his
mind, a transaction with a library
is much less consequential and much
less worthy of honor than one with
a commercial institution.

Is it too harsh to feel that Mr.
DaCorsi is not the kind of library
"patron" we should feel bad about
losing?

-- Joe Schallan
   Phoenix