LISNews: Librarian Blog Since 1999

The first call for Solano County (CA) residents who receive calls about overdue library books should be to the police, law enforcement officials said this week. Lt. Gary Faulkner of the Solano County Sheriff's Department warned Thursday that a scam operation could be underway in the county after a resident received a call demanding payment from someone who claimed to be from a collection agency.

The male caller told the resident she owed money to her local library and demanded payment over the phone by credit card, claiming the collection agency had a special arrangement with the library to collect the outstanding funds, Faulkner said.

But Cary Duffy Swarz, the county's assistant director of library services, said that while the library may call people who owe more than $50, county libraries do not accept payments over the phone or by any kind of electronic transfer, the sheriff's department said.