Osceola County Public Schools missing more than $750K worth of overdue library books

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - If library shelves in schools throughout Osceola County are looking kind of empty right now, that's because they are.

"We really worked to make sure kids had access to books while they were out of school because we didn’t know how long that would be," said Osceola County Schools Supervisor of Library Media Michelle Jarrett.

That's what landed them here. The district is out 37,801 books that were checked out mostly during virtual learning because of the coronavirus pandemic and never returned.

"I was like, 'Oh my God, that’s a lot of books!' And then I realized I was part of that," said parent Veronica Garza.

The district posted about the missing books on Facebook alerting parents like Veronica Garza to the stacks of books they forgot about at home.

"I have such a busy scheduled that I really didn’t think about it and all along they were sitting on this green couch," said Garza.

Estimated at roughly $20 apiece, the district says if the books aren't returned, it would cost them $756,020.

The district will be sending emails to students who have checked books out. There's no real deadline to get them back. At this point, the district just wants them returned, however, and whenever possible.

"It’s tax dollars that we’re losing when we lose those books," said Jarrett.

Veronica Garza dropped off her daughter's books Thursday night and said she's going to donate others from home too.

"I was going to take them to the Salvation Army, to Goodwill, but instead I’m going to take the books to the library just to help out," said Garza.

The district is also making a contest out of it as an incentive. Whichever school has the biggest percentage of books returned, their media center will get a prize pack.