“SECOND OVERDUE NOTICE” screams the email in my inbox. That seems kind of hostile, from the sweet little public library branch on the corner, but it’s a regular occurrence for me these days.
I was so excited when my toddler daughter grew out of gnawing on her books because it meant we could start visiting the library. Borrowing books instead of buying affords us far more variety, and I believe regular visits to the library help foster a love of reading, which is so important. What I didn’t realize was just many pitfalls were waiting for me there.
First of all, I can never locate the library books we’ve brought home. They fall into the same black hole that has claimed so many tiny Disney princess shoes, various letters from our alphabet puzzle and all of my makeup brushes. If I’ve borrowed six books, I will invariably find only four. I rack up overdue notices and late fees (stressful!) and occasionally have to pay to replace entire volumes.
Continue the story at mom.me…
Oh, I am the worst library patron! I feel like an even bigger dirtbag because I used my son’s card to check out books one time, forgot all about them and racked up $120 in fines! I’m paying it off online in monthly increments of $20 because 1) I think that’s a grotesque amount to charge someone for late books and 2) I’m too ashamed to face the blue-hairs behind the reading glasses.
We still visit the library because it is awesome and ours has AVOCADO-shaped sofas! But we return our books on time now.
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Thanks for making me feel better. $120 is grotesque indeed. If we had that kind of money to throw around, we’d go to Barnes & Noble! (They have good couches too.)