If you accidentally break something in the library, do you have to pay for it?

Eric Brukl was carrying his 3-year-old son atop his shoulders inside the Brookfield Public Library Aug. 22 when the boy's head bumped into artwork hanging from the ceiling, breaking a piece that fell to the ground.

"Oh, crud," he recalls thinking.

Two months later he got the bill: $622.

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He balked, saying he thought it would be $25 or $50 and that his current financial situation didn't allow for a $622 expense. But the city said the artwork — which was paid for by the Friends of the Brookfield Library — was valued at $6,000 to $7,000 and the actual repair bill was $622. Any time someone damages city property that results in a cost, the city seeks reimbursement, he was told.

Tuesday night, an alderman went to bat for Brukl, saying it was "crazy" for the city to expect a resident to pay for an unusual, unintended mistake.

"I'm stunned that if a child bumps into a piece of artwork in the library that the city would bill people," said Ald. Bob Reddin, whose children play baseball and football with Brukl's children.

"If children are not welcome in the library, why do we have a children's library?" Reddin asked. "I personally think it's a crazy city policy."

You break it, you buy it

Reddin argued that the library was essentially like a retailer — albeit loaning materials rather than selling them — and that when shoppers break something in a store, retailers generally don't enforce a "you break it, you buy it" policy.

Aldermen Scott Berg and Dan Sutton were not convinced.

Sutton said he had carried his three children on his shoulders many times — but only outdoors, not inside.

"I don't think the library is a place to walk around with a child on your shoulders," Sutton said. "I don't think it's a safe thing."

Berg said it wasn't the child who had damaged the artwork: the boy wouldn't have been able to even jump up and reach the "happy, cheerful, colorful" art which was 6 1/2 feet from the ground. It was only because his father arguably had not exercised "reasonable care," Berg said.

Brukl said he would understand paying the bill if he or his son caused damage by running around or throwing things in the library or breaking a window.

"Parents put kids on their shoulders all the time, to give them height, to keep them under control," Brukl said.

He noted he had consulted the International Building Code, which says protruding items from ceilings need to be at least 80 inches from the ground. The broken artwork was 78 inches up.

According to City Finance Director Robert Scott, the city's insurer said the 1-2 inch discrepancy amounted to a 90-10 split, in which the city would be 10 percent responsible.

Reddin said Brukl immediately told a library employee about the damage, even though he could have simply walked away and avoided responsibility.

What about DVD scratches?

Making Brukl pay could deter other patrons from telling the library about other things like scratches on borrowed DVDs and CDs if they fear they will get billed even if it was scratched when they got it, Reddin added.

Ald. Lisa Mellone said she knew a resident who had a library disc jam in his DVD player and the machine had to be broken to remove the disc. The patron returned the damaged disc and was billed for it, when he thought if anything the library should pay for the damaged DVD player.

Berg said Brukl was ducking responsibility now by trying to avoid the bill.

Ald. Mark Nelson said he was most concerned about setting a bad precedent: that "giving a pass" to one person would mean the city would have trouble sending a bill to another case in which residents damage municipal property or engage in "horseplay." When motorists knock down traffic lights, they are billed, others noted.

But Nelson, stressing that the case was "absolutely unique," suggested the city reduce the bill to $200.

"I'll vote yes, but I still think that it's nuts that we're charging him anything," Reddin said.

"Do you think we should post a sign that says no children on shoulders?" Sutton asked.

"Right next to the sign that says no guns," Berg said.

The city's Finance Committee voted 5-1 in favor, with Berg voting against. It does not need Common Council approval so the committee action was the final vote.

The city's insurer will not pay for the damage because the city's deductible has not been met. But having the library cover part of the damage won't hurt the library's budget because all city departments budget money annually to cover deductible expenses, Scott said.

Brukl told Patch after the vote that he was grateful for the consideration and reduction.