Saturday, November 14, 2009

The guilty consciences of some people

The negative library related news story from the other day is now followed up by this story about some anonymous person returning their high school library books after being overdue for more than 50 years. I have found that these stories turn up occasionally (similar to stories involving the post office where mail shows up after several decades or letter carriers are discovered to be hording mail), but the two things I found interesting about this story were: 1)the books were returned with a money order for $1000 -- the accompanying letter said it was to cover fines of 2 cents per day for each book, which would total about $745. The letter said the extra money was added in case the rates had changed. According to the present librarian, they no longer charge fees for overdue books, so I wonder if the guilty conscience book borrower regrets adding on all that cash.
And 2)The end of the article says "the overdue books will be returned to the shelves." I know that they are Audubon Society books, but are they still relevant? Has the library not obtained any new Audubon Society books in the last 50 years that aren't more up to date? I suppose it wouldn't have been as interesting to the public to say that they books were to be weeded and put in the community book sale.

1 comment:

  1. Like I always say, it's always the people with "hefty" fines that never hesitate to pay. But when you get someone with that wallet-breaking $0.60 overdue fee, they're all up in arms.

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