Minnesota Statutes Crimes; Expungement; Victims (Ch. 609-624) § 609.541. Protection of library property

Subdivision 1. Damage to library materials. A person who intentionally, and without permission from library personnel damages any books, maps, pictures, manuscripts, films, or other property of any public library or library belonging to the state or to any political subdivision is guilty of a petty misdemeanor.

Subd. 2. Removal of library property. A person who intentionally, and without permission from library personnel removes any books, maps, pictures, manuscripts, films, or other property of any public library or library belonging to the state or to any political subdivision is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Subd. 3. Detention of library materials. A person who detains a book, periodical, pamphlet, film, or other property belonging to any public library, or to a library belonging to the state or any political subdivision, for more than 60 days after notice in writing to return it, given after the expiration of the library's stated loan period for the material, is guilty of a petty misdemeanor. The written notice shall be sent by mail to the last known address of the person detaining the material. The notice shall state the type of material borrowed, the title of the material, the author's name, the library from which the material was borrowed, and the date by which the material was to have been returned to the library. The notice shall include a statement indicating that if the material is not returned within 60 days after the written notice the borrower will be in violation of this section.

Subd. 4. Responsibility for prosecution for regional libraries. For regional libraries the county attorney for the county in which the offense occurred shall prosecute violations of subdivisions 1 to 3.