THOUSANDS of pounds worth of overdue books haven’t been returned to Flintshire’s libraries. There are 1,833 unrecovered books missing costing council tax payers £16,735. Flintshire County Council says it has no plans to launch an amnesty allowing users to return books without paying hefty fines. However, the authority is taking enforcement action. Plaid Cymru AM for North Wales Janet Ryder has demanded action to cut the losses. She said: “The losses incurred by libraries across Wales are frankly staggering and the sharp rise in books not returned is particularly disturbing. “I’m appalled borrowers are either stealing or not returning books but I also believe local authorities urgently need to look at their systems and ways of reducing thefts. “This is money which could otherwise be used to improve facilities for library users such as greater internet access. “All local authorities should look at a books amnesty.” Flintshire County Council has started enforcement action to retrieve missing books. Lawrence Rawsthorne, head of Libraries, Culture and Heritage said: “In 2007/08 the number of books loaned to readers and not returned was 1,883 with an estimated value of £16,735. “Flintshire Library Service has a stock of 190,522 books available for loan. The number not returned represents 0.9% of the stock available. In 2007-08 657,439 books were loaned. Books not returned represented 0.3%. “We’d obviously like all items loaned to be returned, and we actively pursue overdue loans sending reminder letters and working with the council’s Enforcement and Debt Recovery section which assists with retrieving books. “We last ran an amnesty in 1997, during which 299 items were returned. Most of it wasn’t in a suitable condition to put back onto library shelves. “So, although the amnesty was well publicised, it didn’t achieve the objective of getting large numbers of books back into circulation. “Although there’s a small minority of people who abuse the service, this doesn’t detract from high levels of customer satisfaction.” | 
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