Kaylee Morgan documented her agony over a $570 overdue book fine in Texas. (From her GoFundMe page)
A mom was shocked when she tried to renew her driver’s license in her small Texas town — she had a warrant for $570 for an overdue library book she had checked out last year for her home-schooled children.
“I was so angry. I was sad and mad,” Kaylee Morgan told NBC News about the ordeal from a March 2023 book checkout from the Navasota Public Library in Grimes County, Texas. “The whole week leading up to court, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to laugh or cry.”
She wrote about her agony in Navasota — a city of 7,643 — on GoFundMe, which raised over $3,000.
At the time, she had just become pregnant and was having complications. She said her husband returned all but one of the books that didn’t fit in the book bin. She said she never received the warrant and learned about it when she tried to renew her driver’s license. When she tried to explain her side, she said the judge didn’t want excuses and to “take responsibility.” She was told it was too late when she offered to pay fines.
“She said we were way beyond that and I needed to make it right,” Morgan said the judge told her. “She told me that by returning the books late, I had done the equivalent of walking out of Walmart without paying for merchandise.”
The complaint obtained by local affiliate Houston’s NBC affiliate KPRC identifies her as Kaylee Cooper and lists two overdue books about Vincent Van Gogh.
“Be advised that the Navasota Police Department is currently holding a warrant for your arrest,” an official notice from September reads. “Act Now to Avoid Going to Jail.”
Morgan is in a single-income family with five children and struggles, she said.
“This has put a strain on my breastfeeding journey as I now have to pump in case I literally go to jail — over library books,” she said. “This has been insanely stressful for my family and the punishment does not fit the crime. I’m just a mom with 5 kids trying to home-school and spread kindness. This is unjust. Please spread the word. Whatever additional funds we receive will be donated to the Smithville Public Library and the Navasota Public Library to pay off other debts that might be owed.”
The Navasota City Attorney Cary Bovey did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Law&Crime. But Bovey told KPRC that her case is pending and under investigation.
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