Friday, April 21, 2006

The Fast Is Over

My library fast, that is. In February, I made some careless mistakes: returning DVDs in the wrong cases, losing a paperback, going overdue on others. I was tempted to attribute this to "pregnancy brain", but I realized I had been gorging on books like others do junk food. I decided to make library books my Lenten fast. During the break, I cleared my mind of worldly wisdom and entertaining storylines. I also saved my spending money to repay the astronomical DVD bill. Did you know they send late payments to a collections agency nowadays?

Today I had a chance to clear the slate. Checkbook in hand, I approached the desk. She seemed puzzled as she pulled up my record. "Well, it looks like you only owe $2.60." The DVD mix-up had been solved in my absence. If I had paid the first notice that came in the mail, I would be $60 poorer right now. Sometimes self-denial has its own reward.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Meredith-
I had to laugh at this post because I tend to do the same thing. I always feel like the world's biggest moral failure when I have to pay a library fine. I think it's a holdover from my childhood.....my mom used to go NUTS when my brothers and I had an overdue notice come in the mail. After I have to pay a fine, I tend to stay away from the library for a while, too!! The guilt I feel for wasting the money on a fine keeps me away!
Susan

Mary Ann said...

Last winter, our local movie rental store had a free gallery rental(without purchase) promotion going. It was great! Until I realized that we were paying much more in late fees than we would've for an actual 5 day rental.:-( We just kept forgetting to take them back and the store is on the other side of town.

About library books though, my sister lost a library book and found it when it was probably at least 2 years overdue. Fortunately, we were able to return it during a canned food drive one Christmas season when they were taking food donations instead of money. I wasn't sure if a box of Sav-a-lot soups was enough for that or not.:-)

Kathryn said...

Yeah, I don't think they thought it was funny, Mary Ann. But the librarians in our town are not amused at much, and to lose out on 2 1/2 years of late fees for a can of Save-A-Lot soup...what a tragedy.
I currently owe 3 dollars to the Easley library because when I renewed my books, I just forgot that my husband had checked out 2 of the books because I didn't have my library card along. So those didn't get renewed. I can't blame it on being pregnant anymore---it was such a handy excuse. I wonder if I could bribe them with homemade cookies?? ;-)

Mom2fur said...

I just found out my library has the option to renew your books on line! I haven't tried it yet, and I don't know if it would work for DVDs and videos, but it might be something to check with your own library.

Anonymous said...

I renew online a lot to avoid late returns. They must have a certain limit before they report fees to an agency. I keep forgetting to pay the $1 I let wrack up on The Boy's card and that was over a year ago.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it is a mom thing. My son just turned two and in the past two years I've had overdue fines several times--more than the previous 10 years! But I recall my own mom's words "I guess I'm supporting the local library with these overdue charges."
Alison

Cathy said...

Check online to see if your library ever has a grace week where you can return books and any/all fines are forgiven. I have been saved by that one before.