By Hello everyone! I know we are already a few weeks in, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to post. Since I feel this is a forum that is safe and understanding, I will share that I have had a recent incident with the library. Yes, the library. I’m sure this will be amusing to some of you and I can now write about it through the lens of retrospective humor. I had two VERY OVERDUE books. The hold-up on returning them was in part that one of them was nearly 600 pages. I don’t typically read very long books. Now I know why or at least in this case, it’s just not worth it. I desperately wanted to finish reading it, because I had kept it overdue so long and I did during the first week of the challenge. There was no conclusion. This was a book of a series. I thought at the very least it would end on some kind of closure. It did not. So much of it was long and drawn out and there were a good 200 pages I think that added little to no value to moving the story along. In the spirit of this blog, I am reminded that it is OK to detach from a book (in this case a series) that just seems to be eating at your time without enriching you. So I have said f*ck off to the rest of the series. I don’t care what happens. Anyway, back to the library fiasco. My anxiety about facing the librarians with these VERY OVERDUE books was insurmountable. I realize to a regular person this sounds silly, but I was absolutely terrified at the thought of having to answer to them. I spent a good three therapy sessions discussing it. I tried to convince both my boyfriend and my best friend to go in on my behalf. I thought about dropping the books in the bin after hours and mailing a $60 check (the fee they claimed I owed when they sent a letter to the house). I later found out that I would only pay a small fraction of that as long as the books were returned. They even cut off my library card from being able to borrow things digitally on the HOOPLA app, so I knew I needed to face them. I am happy to say that I am on a clean slate with the library as of YESTERDAY! YAY! I am kicking my habit of pulling out books I know I will not finish in time and exclusively using their digital services for the foreseeable future.
Current List:
“The Lost Chapters: Finding Recovery and Renewal One Book at a Time” by Leslie Schwartz
“Dietland” (Audiobook) by Sarai Walker
“Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott (left over from last session)
Open Arts Spring 2023 
Hello, Daniela. Good to see you again. I was right there with you on your library experience. I am so grateful for the library that I try to avoid being LATE returning, or worse yet, LOSING an item. I do not want a black mark on my permanent record. Nonetheless, I did put a paperback book I had borrowed on the roof of my car while I put my stuff inside, and you know what happened…I drove off with it up there. Found chunks of it scattered around when I got home. I was so shamefaced to tell the librarian what had happened. Oh, she said, the record shows that item was scheduled for removal from the collection, so don’t worry about it. Pffft.
We can renew our books for up to 99 times, if no one else has requested them. I’m a serial renewer. Good reading to you!
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I am thoroughly enjoying these library tales! Thanks for sharing, Teri 🙂
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Here’s my library story. I was in grad school. After finals, I found a xeroxed article that was way overdue. The fine was per day and it was weeks late. The librarian was terrifying and the calculated fine was huge for a poor graduate student in 1989–at least $20. I put a $20 bill in my pocket, recruited a friend for moral support, and went to the library where I purposefully stood by the poinsettia on the counter. I told the librarian I had made a very very terrible mistake and not returned an overnight article on time. It was weeks late. She paused, and I prepared to pay up. To my surprise she asked for $1. All I had was the twenty. I said to my friend, “Can I borrow a dollar.” Another happy ending.
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This story made me smile ear-to-ear Barbara! ❤ Love you
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Daniela, So happy to see you here- and glad that your library crisis is resolved. Happy reading! 🙂
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