MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The former director of the Manitowoc Public Library was convicted Friday of falsifying records to increase circulation figures.
Cherilyn Stewart, 58, pleaded no contest to two counts of misappropriating identification. Two other charges were dropped.
She’s now ordered to pay over $2,000 in fines.
Depending on how libraries are structured, libraries can charge other municipalities for their residents who use other libraries.
According to the criminal complaint, Stewart used the information from real people and created fictitious accounts – and then processed check-outs in order to boost circulation figures, and the fees the library could recoup.
For example, the library card belonging to a woman who moved from Manitowoc to Tennessee was changed, with a new address in the Town of Liberty.
More than 2,600 circulations were credited on that account in less than four months.
In another case, one card was used to check out 72 items on a day the library was closed. At least 13,000 fraudulent transactions happened, according to the complaint.
