This is fun.
I understood that "checking out" in this context meant selecting an available material in the library and taking it to the desk or kiosk and checking it out.
I'd rather say that it is impossible to check out a material that is not available and just as impossible to return such a material, in conventional terms.

I'll understand if you click "Reply" at this point to declare further inabilities to comprehend my perspective, but I'll soldier in hopes that you're enjoying this as much as I am :)

For the purpose of strengthening my argument and weakening yours :), let's say that a particular patron is willing to check out any available material and has six years left to live. Of all the remaining days of their life (2,190 days) in which they could check out (available) materials, they can only return the (successfully borrowed) materials within the two weeks (14 days) of checking it out (successfully).

Have a nice day!

You'll also see an increase in the number of people borrowing and returning materials that wouldn't have previously because their budget couldn't absorb the occasional unexpected expense of library fines.
The library system's board made a decision as to which number's delta was more aligned to their mission.

I'm glad you've asked. A book can be checked out at any time, any day that the library is open. Let's call that arrangement "easy".
You can't return a book before you've checked it out, so already the total possible days on which a patron may return a book is less than the number of days on
  which the book can be checked out, which we can reasonably identify as being "less easy" which is also equivalent to "more difficult"

There are a certain number of recreational trolls commenting in the hopes of having the satisfaction of annoying someone else so that they can be distracted from some dreary part of their existence...but for others, it may just be lazy cognition and/or an under-developed sense of empathy.

The problem is that they deter different behaviours in different income brackets. A wealthy person might try harder to be on time to avoid the embarrassment of paying the fine while a lower-income person would just stop going to the library after the first fine that puts a dent in their weekly budget. The first person may not like the experience of paying a fine but it isn't really that bad. The second person can't rationally see that sort of risk as a reasonable one.

That becomes a huge disincentive to use the library at all (which would be counter-productive to most public libraries' missions). For a lower-income person, the first time they have to decide between groceries/rent and paying a library fine so they don't go to jail and lose their job is the last time...

FYI, libraries already make decisions to spend money in ways that don't directly translate into more materials for lending (e.g. computers, self-checkout kiosks, children's events, extra staff during popular times to reduce waits, etc.) What's happening here is that they've decided that the

Trying hard not to be snarky but are you suggesting that they turn a $2 fine into a $20 one ($10 /hour opportunity cost of working + $10/hour childcare cost).

Already exists, Sousaphone and Funyuns addiction

Check out the Child's Play website- I think the donations have to be sent directly from the retailer to the charity.

As much as we'd like it to....

Well- they don't exactly "give away their content for free forever" .

Commercials are interspersed throughout every movie and show. Also, for most shows, they only make a handful of episodes available at a time.

Do they feel the need to add a subscription fee when they already show commercials....? Isn't that what drives dissatisfaction with cable?

Thisis very interesting.

Talk about an embarrassing reason to call in sick for work! ..ranks right up there with sheep herpes