"I'm buying books from now on! It's cheaper!"

[zenhashi]

I've been lucky then, because at my library the patrons have been overall nice. Although I argued with one individual 5-10 minutes that he had to pay 1.15€ late fees instead of what he wanted to pay (which is the .15)

Out of principle, and because he started the name-calling I decided to strictly follow the library's policy

Highest I've personally witnessed in late fees was somewhere in the 60-70€ ballpark (90-100 USD, 50-60 GBP according to Google), but it was several items and several notices had been sent out (we charge 1€ for first notice, 2€ for next, 3€ for third notice/bill for item), plus of course the charge added each day the item lent was overdue :P

On a last note, "Read Down Your Fines" for kids sounds like a nice idea... I might just steal that and suggest it at our library if you don't mind

[Peppergirl]

I often wonder why it is that public libraries seem to draw such an abundance of entitlement whores?

*ponders*

Oh - and to the OP - to . We're glad you de-lurked.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I often wonder why it is that public libraries seem to draw such an abundance of entitlement whores?

*ponders*

Because they're free?

[underemployeed]

correct me if i'm wrong those new books cost normally AT LEAST $20

[tropicsgoddess]

She's crazy! It's not that hard to get a calendar or at least look up events for the library online! There's nothing wrong with going to the library at all! My mom used to take me and my sisters when we were growing up. Oh and welcome to CS!

[Kristev]

New books are remarkably expensive. I can't even afford to buy my own!

[LibraryLady]

People often think that, because Public Libraries loan books for free, the Library got the books for free. That isn't the case.

Above and beyond the cost of the book, every book that gets on a Public Library shelf costs at least 20USD to research, order, process and catalog. That seems like a lot of money but much of it is staff time. Yes, even that little paperback is a lot more expensive than it looks.

Donations of books are often much more trouble than they're worth. It may seem like a nice idea to clear out Grandpa's cellar or attic and give the books to the Library. After all, they're old so they have to be valuable, don't they? Please folks, think twice before you do that.

Books that have been stored in attics or basements can have insect or mold problems that can infect other parts of the collection. These 'gifts' have to be segregated before they can be accepted. Each book has to be researched for rarity and examined for damage. The people who do these things have skills that do not come cheap. 'Free' gifts can cost the Library up to 100 USD per book to research and the book may still not be found acceptable.

[Ill_Used_Heroine]

Most of the donated books we got would go straight to the Friends of the Library, who had a book store that sold most items for 10 cents each. I swear, some of the boxes people brought in were filled with wet, moldy, dirty, bug-ridden books and I'd wonder how anyone could think that the library would put them on the shelves for circulation. Hell, one time someone returned a borrowed DVD and when I opened it to check it in, it had an existing ant colony inside, larva included! What a treat that was, but at least I was able to shake them out, clean it and put it back into circulation. I'd hate to be invited to that person's home!

[laborcat]

Ants. Just yuck.

[camjuniper]

Thanks for the welcomes!

I've seen a few patrons with fines and billed items over $250 (173 Euro, 155 GBP according to the google) and was warned over our listserv about a couple of scammers who ended up with a bill in the thousands *shudder* and had provided false information to get their cards so they haven't been able to properly sic a collection agency on them--or the police.

I've also had a patron who told me the 10 cent/day fine was TOO HIGH and why couldn't it still be five cents? Um, it wasn't even five cents when I first went to the library, so what rock was she living under?

[Opalin]

wow. too expensive to read at the library. Where everything is basically free, and fines help pay for the services that you use. Also, as someone who gets annoyed when people don't return stuff on time because I can't read it REMEMBER THIS IS A LIBRARY, MORE THAN ONE PERSON USES IT. honestly woman. Sorry you had to deal with her, hope you can someday get your books back.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

New books are remarkably expensive. I can't even afford to buy my own!

Same here. If I buy a book brand new, it's a rare treat these days.

Most of mine I've found at yard sales over the years. And the ones I'm missing from the series I look for (Alex Cross, North and South trilogy, The Immigrants series, The Kent Family Chronicles, et al) I'll find on Amazon.

[BiscuitMunroe]

My library is mad at me I think I owe them a couple hundred dollars, however it's not my fault I swear!!! lol, I had an ex take off with a bunch of things checked out on my card and dealing with her was more trouble than not getting my stuff back... How I miss the library

[depechemodefan]

I hate Summer Reading club. And I'm not a children's librarian. One story I heard was how a parent would come to the library, pick a random 10 (or 20 or 30) books, fill out a Summer REading form (years back; now it's done online, though parents still fill out a form and expect the librarian to enter the info. on the online log, which most parents will do themselves because they aren't lazy shits) right in front on the librarian and turn it in, saying their kids did read these many books, and they want the prizes.

Prizes differ, though every year it is tickets for the local baseball team, circus tickets, and free hamburger or chicken sandwich at a local fast food restaurant, This year the manager of the Childrens' librarians said no more fast food coupons, it bothers her conscience that kids are getting obese.

Last year, a person or group of people said they were with a day care. You have to prove that with a liscence*. But what happened was the "day care" in question got the tickets for the "kids" and then sold the kids circus tickets.

About fines, I know a lot of people who say they have kid, and fill out a registration for a library card for the kid, then check out dvds and books, never return the books, then move. Then register another kid at the new address. One slut-whore had 4 kids, but I only seen 2 of them. Two of the kids had "Destiny/Destinee" in their names. This slut-whore also had a library card of "Margaret Lee," from another branch. I was wondering why, so I put a note in the record about it. The manager wouldn't do nothing about it-it wasn't her name but managers rather eat shit then confront a patron. But anyway, this slut-whore would owe more than $400 on each card. This is a woman who one day said about me, "I hate her...I'm a Christian."

*I hate day cares. They have, say, 30 kids. Then they bring filled out forms for each kid and want the librarian to input each kid into the online log. Do these yahoos know how many day cares are registered with each library? Thanks for pawning off your work on us.

[Aisling]

I love my library. Even if the book collection kinda sucks. They've got tons of great movies, and video games too, and sometimes they even manage to get a book I want to read. Plus renewals can be done online, and they send out reminder emails the day before something's due. It's a great deal, really. I don't know why anyone would behave so boorishly.