Library Fine

Upon the recommendation of someone in my book club, I had checked out We Need To Talk About Kevin from the library. Now usually, you can keep books for three weeks and then renew them at least once, if not twice. I kind of count on this sometimes, knowing that once I have a book, if I don't have time to read it right away, I can always just renew it and at least it is sitting there, ready to be read in the meantime. So with this book, I didn't get around to reading it (or starting it at least) until a day or two before it was due.

So on the due date, I went online to renew it and to my surprise, someone else had put a hold on the book, meaning I couldn't renew it! This has never happened to me before! Not only that, but by that point, I knew it would take me a few weeks to read it (it was a heavy, depressing, yet very good book) so now I had to feel bad turning it in late knowing someone else is waiting for it. Needless to say, it unfortunately did not make me read it any faster. The fact that the library has a 5 day grace period and only $0.10 a day late fee after that didn't help me either.

Next thing I know, it's been a few weeks and I just finished reading it yesterday. I went to return the book today only to find that I had a $25 fine on my account because they assume I must have lost it and must now replace it. Luckily, I did not lose it and the fine was taken off after I turned it in. The lady at the desk told me that she thought the book had to be 6-8 weeks late before that fine is placed on your account, and I really thought it was only two weeks late. Clearly my sense of time is off (I blame it on pregnancy). After the $25 fine was removed, I had a $3.20 late fee, meaning the book was 32 days late. Oops.

What I learned: The library charges $25 if your book is a month overdue.