Has anyone ever heard of book "recalls"? I checked out a book before Christmas break, thinking I would be able to read it during my long trip home, but today I received a message saying that someone has requested to "recall" the book, so instead of it being due at the end of January (the original due date), I need to return it the week of Christmas. That's fine, but I'm already home for the holidays, and I won't be within even seven hours of my school until the first week of January -- and besides, I'm not even finished! There's a fine for each day past its NEW due date that I'm going to have to pay... this is ridiculous to me. Not that I doubt someone doesn't urgently needs my book two days before Christmas (because everyone celebrates with Norton anthologies...), but... is there any way to at least fight these huge fine that I'm about to accumulate? I guess I could send it back, but that also costs a lot of money.

I generally try to return books on time and if i have overdue items i paid them willingly because it's the responsible thing to do. I always thought the rules are simple and reasonable until I found out one day about the Library's 'damaged' item policy.

I returned a book that had some slight water marks on the edge so the clerk told me i need to pay a fine. So i was like "okay, fine". But then she told me that i need to pay the FULL price for the book which was about 1 year old. This is where I think it doesn't make sense because first of all the book was not that badly damaged that it was unusable:- there were just water marks, not beverage or any stain... just plain H2O! And i have to pay for the full price?? And here is the best part, I asked her if i pay for the full price of the book, can i keep the book? She told me "NO". And it gets even better, I offered to replace the book with a brand new book because i know places where i can get that book at a lower price. She refused and insisted that i need to pay for the full price. I asked her why not? The best explanation she has to offer was that the library receive book that is already labeled and stamped and if I were to simply replace the old book with a new one there would be no extra staff to replace those labels. I look at the book carefully. It is really not that hard to do. There were just 2 labels. I can easily just peeled off the two labels and tape them to the new one, ask for the security sticker and a couple of stamps. How hard is that? You mean to tell me that the Government pay them 45k+ a year and they can't even do a simple thing like that?

Sorry if i sound skeptical but i find it hard to believe that fines are not as unimportant to librarians as you claimed. I have offered a full replacement, was refused and was demanded that I pay FULL price for a minor water marked book which I don't get to keep. Heck,if I knew how the policy works i would simply just report that the book is lost, keep it for myself and then pay the full price.

RE "I'm a kid with an overdue book".

-It IS important for the library to get the book back on time. Chances are, somebody else is working on the same report you are and is waiting for it to get back. To legitimately keep the book past it's due date, call your library.

Many libraries will "Renew" items. Renewing would be the same thing as taking the book back and then checking it out again. Most will renew items over the phone. Especially for a school project, many libraries will renew the items for you. This at least tells the other person whom may want it that you now have it until such-and-such time, and that they should look elsewhere for it.

Depending on the library's policies, the item may not be renewable if somebody else has their name on it. In which case, it would be advisable that you skim through the book to take notes, or photocopy the applicable sections (virtually all libraries have photocopiers, and many will charge between $0.10 and $0.25/page).

Every library is different in terms of their policies. However, a due date allows us to tell somebody that the item is expected back by such-and-such. Keeping the item past this date without renewal basically forces us to the position "Oh, I don't know when it'll be back... some inconsiderate slacker decided to break our rules and not let us know he wanted it longer...". Library people tend to hold grudges against people whom are chronically overdue (ssshhhhh... you didn't hear it from me!).

Hi, I'm a kid with an overdue book. How important is it that the library gets the book back on time? Can I keep the book for about a week, if I need the book for a school research project, or for reference? I know I had plenty of time to finish the book and return it, but I pretty much waited until the last minute, and now I need to either keep the book for a week after it was due, or return it now and check it out another time.

I have a deadline, and I'm not sure I can finish the book before then if I return it now.

I am a credentialed librarian who does not currently work in a library. When I did, however, we had a system that made this kind of dishonest behavior unsuccessful every time. We had a three-part check-in process. Each part was done by a different employee. First. the due date was cancelled with a specially made stamp. Then, the book was cleared on the computer. Last. the security device in the book was reactivated before it was sent upstairs to be shelved. If none of these steps was done, the book obviously hadn't been properly turned in, and the nasty little creep was held responsible.

Another librarian here. We come across self-shelvers occasionally, but it's not a huge problem; frankly, we're happy just to get the books back, which most patrons don't realize. At my former library, a rather large university, I got a bit of petty revenge on someone who tried it too many times. I worked in one of the special collections so most of the regular users didn't know me. One day I was browsing in the general collection for something to read during my shift and I saw a girl take a book out of her bag, look around, and then shove it on the shelf before leaving quickly. I got suspicious so I took the book and tucked it into my pile before going a little further down the stack. Sure enough, the girl came back in about five minutes with a librarian in tow, saying, "This always happens to me. I'm sure the book is... right... here?" (I wasn't completely nasty; I returned the book so it wouldn't interfere with her grades but I had a talk with the director about what I had seen. As far as I know, the girl never tried it again.)

Echoing dmcmorris, we don't care about your piddling ten cents a day, and we're certainly not getting rich off it. We just want the book (or video or CD) back.

There are public libraries where fines have zero effect on the library's budget. If the library collects X dollars in fines through the year, then the city just deducts X dollars from the next year's budget. On the other hand, if the library must replace the book, then it does come out of the budget. So the librarians just want the book back.

The fine is not a significant source of income for th; it's an incentive for the user. It doesn't work for everyone, and we know that, so here's another tip: many libraries offer an Amnesty Day or Fine-Free Day, on which you can return your books without paying a fine.

In the library where I currently work, we check the shelves for every title on every overdue notice before sending the notices to customers. Yes, we do find shelved books that are still checked out -- more often than we'd like, and we suspect that we have some patrons who practice steps 1-4 and are simply waiting for another notice to hit step 5.

You know what? We don't care. We just want the book back.

Oh, and one thing you shouldn't do. I remember a call I took while working circulation one day many years ago.

"I have three overdue library books," the patron said. "And I just received a notice that the fines are becoming large."

"And you'd like to renew them?" I asked.

"No," she said. "I don't want to pay the fines. So here's what we'll do. You waive the fines, and I'll bring the books back. Otherwise, I'll just keep them."

I'm not proud of it, but I lost my professional composure. I couldn't hold back my laughter and I'm afraid it came out a little raspberryish. "You're holding our books hostage?" I giggled.

She hung up.

We librarians ... we just want the books back. But we don't respond well to threats.

what, people want to cheat the library to get back at the man? before you do this, stop and think, do I consider myself to have class? or do I just chip away at every free good thing until it disappears. If you do this youa re part of the problem. Check yourself!

a library patron

Avoid fines?

Call and renew the material checked out, or do it online if your library has that capability. The fines end and many, many, many libraries have a grace period of two or three days before fines start to accrue. SO ... when they are overdue - RENEW~

Definitely agree with all the other posters - it might work once, with a small number of books, but no more. We'd give you the benefit of the doubt in most circumstances, but not if it kept happening, particularly as we can check whether it's actually passed behind the loans desk and been resensitised (so that it would set the alarm off - books on loan don't set the alarm off) if we get suspicious. Librarians are generally nice, but don't fall for the same thing twice!

PATRON BEWARE. I am a librarian but also a library patron. Well, this has happened to me more than once at one particular branch of a large public library: I am certain I returned a book but I get an overdue notice. I search the car, (did the book fall out of the bag onto the floor?), I search the kid's rooms again... then I return to the library and tell them the book may be lost. The librarian says, "Let me check the stacks." She finds the book. I am surprised. She is not surprised or apologetic. I tell myself: Make sure to return the book to an actual person and watch the person process the return or risk being fined for no reason.

Won't work at our library. Instead of removeable due date cards, we have adhesive labels in the back of the book. The due date is stamped in one color when the book goes out, and a new date is stamped in a different color when it comes in. No second stamp, the book is still yours.

This method could also screw you over if another patron picks up the book and walks out of the library with it still on your card. Then it's late, it's still out on your card, and you have no control over where it is or if it ever comes back.

I mention this because I've had people try this and this has happened to them, particularly with bestsellers and automated checkout systems. The book is already checked out and won't check out to a new patron without being checked back in, the new patron doesn't even notice, and they're out the door with it... and no alarm sounds, because it's still checked out on your card.

Chances are it will work fine a few times before we catch on or someone picks up your book, but it's not necessarily a good idea. Just pay the stupid 50 cents or whatever.

We keep track of users who make "claims returned" claims a lot. Good way to lose your library privileges.

I generally agree that rifling through a persons' bag is a privacy issue. As RFID catches on, you can scan a persons' bag without ever looking in.

We get quite a few items' shelved that aren't checked in. We've traced this back to a staff issue of one (and on some occasions a second) staff member. What seems to happen more often is fines aren't marked paid when they have been (again, comes back to the same 2 clerks).

Here's the fact... Libraries don't care much for the fines... They're there to encourage you to get your items back on time. In all honesty, I waive probably 50% of fines that come to my attention for various reasons.

If you have a legitimate reason where you cannot reasonably return the items on time, bring this to the clerks' attention. Examples may be hospitalization, sickness, or the like. If you lost it underneath a bed or whatever, I generally wouldn't consider this a "valid" excuse. If you are going to be overdue with it, get in touch with the library asap. Call them, and explain the situation.

The fact is, doing it the way outlined in this message is a dis-service to other people (not just the library). When it shows "out" in the computer, people aren't going to look for it "just in case". Also, many libraries' will mark an item "claimed returned" (or similar) in the system. Even if the item is resolved, exceeding a set limit of claimed returned items could cause your library privileges to become suspended.

For heaven's sake, just return the books on time. If you can't, renew them (you can renew them in advance usually... for example, if you think it might be due this week just call ahead and renew... it may not be due for a couple days, but it keeps you fine-free!). If you're not habitually overdue, feel free to ask them to waive the fines (it's pretty bold and some won't honor without a good excuse, but if it's only once in a blue moon we usually will).

By keeping your books overdue or going through a scheme like this to "dodge" fines, you're making it inconvenient for your peers (not only the library). Imagine this "hot" book is shown as due tomorrow, and you come back 3 days from now and it's overdue...

I'm also a librarian and this doesn't work at libraries who use even the most slightly modern check-in system. Most systems have a feature called claims-returned which tracks people who claim this very thing. Once the number of claims reaches a set number (which varies by library) - we simply no longer believe you and hold you fully responsible for all fines.

Here's a tip: Try bringing your items back on time and being a little more responsible and you won't have this problems.

This would perhaps work once or twice (honest re-shelving mistakes have been made in the past), but there aren't many people who would try it. It amazes me what a sense of guilt will do for keeping people honest! As for the blocking technique, it is quite the breach of privacy to go through peoples' bags looking for overdue books. Some libraries do look in bags for security reasons, but they do not go through the contents very meticulously. It seems to me that the loss of privacy is not worth the revenue of a small overdue fine.

If you shelve the book correctly and we find it on the shelf after you tell us that you returned it, this might work. The downfalls come from people who don't shelve correctly or that get greedy and try this too often. Librarians will catch on if you try this more than twice!

As a librarian, I have to say that this generally won't work. Anyone who suggests that the books might have been reshelved without being romoved from their library card would make us suspicious - it's just not something that people think about. Trust me, we will outwit you every time!