Community responds to library loss

by Amy Reznicek, head librarian
Published 8/13/25

I am truly humbled and amazed at the generosity of our community, far and wide, regarding the front-page story in the North Bend Eagle about stolen books at the library. The donation drive spear-headed by Hope Spicer was a huge success.

Many called or stopped in to see what books could be donated and expressed disbelief that someone would check out books and not return them at all. I can tell you that this is an ongoing problem for all libraries everywhere. There has never been a time in the 15 years that I have worked at the library that we have had all the books returned.

Why do people keep library books? Why do the people that keep library books not ever return them? I wish I had a solid answer for those questions.

What we do have is a way to safeguard against those patrons from ever checking out items at our library. Part of our check-out program will allow us to restrict patron check-out privileges. They can still come in and use some of our services but not check out items ever again.

The adult patrons that do this is one thing, but their children are ultimately affected the most by this when they come to the library and desire to use our computers and are not allowed because of this situation.

However, the library has a lot of other services to offer and is still a safe place for children in those situations. These people thought their actions would have no effect on the library, and they were mistaken.

It has had a positive impact because we are reminded how passionate our community is about the library. We appreciate the passion and compassion of everyone and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

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