TEXAS, USA — Don't forget to return your library books!
That's the message a Texas mother wants to share with others after she said a warrant was issued for her arrest after she failed to pay a citation for not returning a library book she checked out in 2023.
Kaylee Morgan, a mother of five, said she found out about the warrant when she tried to renew her driver's license.
"When I get there, they told me they can't renew it because I have a warrant out for my arrest," Morgan said. "I am just shocked. I literally laughed out loud. I said this has to be a joke and it wasn't."
Morgan said the warrant was for theft of government property, which she later discovered was over an overdue library book out of Navasota. Morgan said she was forced to see a judge, despite having already moved hours away, and when she finally got in front of a judge and tried to explain the situation, the judge had no sympathy.
"It was not a pleasant experience," Morgan said.
Morgan told the judge that she was pregnant at the time the library book was due and was having some complications. She said her husband went to turn in the books but there was one book he couldn't fit in the drop-off box. The library was closed at the time, so he couldn't go inside to return it, Morgan said.
She said she eventually got the library book turned in and thought everything was OK because she never got any notices in the mail about her owing late payments.
For the judge that didn't matter, according to Morgan.
"She told me to stop making excuses and I needed to take responsibility," Morgan said. "She said it was my responsibility to update the library with my change of address because we moved."
Morgan said she offered to pay for the book but the judge told her she was way beyond that point.
With nowhere to turn and no extra money in her savings to pay for a nearly $600 citation, Morgan started a GoFundMe to ask for help. Not only has she raised enough money to help pay for the citation, but she's now hired a lawyer and has increased the goal of that campaign to help pay for legal expenses.
"I know several moms have commented that they've already canceled their library card out of fear of this happening to them because you never know when you're going to have a death in the family or you get into a car accident or any number of things. You could break your leg and not be able to return your library book and what? You have to go to jail over that? I think it's excessive," Morgan said.