How Speeders in Michigan Are Helping Keep Libraries Open

If you’ve been caught speeding through Ottawa County, there’s a silver lining (at least for your local library.)

Speeding is a real danger on Michigan roadways, and no on likes a ticket. Last year a whopping $682,556.24 in fines were collected in Ottawa county, and a big chunk of that cash is now fueling public libraries.

According to a report from our friends at Fox17, The Howard Miller Library in Zeeland is one of nine libraries in Ottawa County that benefited from the speeding ticket funding. They took home more than $60,000, while the largest library in the county, the Herrick District Library in Holland, received just over $202,000.

That money goes toward everything from library programming and internet access to adding more books and resources to the shelves. While speeding sucks, at least it’s helping the community a little bit.

I was shocked to learn that Michigan is the only state in the country that constitutionally mandates that penal fines fund public libraries.

Depending on the community, that can make up anywhere from 3% to a whopping 70% of a library’s annual budget. So, I guess this is the only way that crime ends up paying.

In Zeeland, it’s been about 5% over the past three years, which is a significant number for a library without a friends group or major auxiliary fundraising efforts. That means every dollar from those fines helps keep things running smoothly.

So, while I’d never recommend treating a speeding ticket like a charitable donation: there’s a bit of comfort in knowing that if you do get caught going 20 over, that your mistake might just help someone else get lost in a great story, or finally figure out how to print something from their email.

Okay but seriously: slow down. Speeding puts lives at risk, and no amount of library funding is worth that.